HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Retail Trade

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has to restrict the means by which business may promote alcohol consumption.

Alan Campbell: The Government have introduced legislation to establish a new code of practice for alcohol retailers. This will ensure that all alcohol retailers sell alcohol responsibly, by banning irresponsible promotions which encourage excessive drinking and can lead to crime and disorder.
	The legislation for the new code of practice in the Policing and Crime Bill is an enabling power, which will allow the Home Secretary to set out a small number of national mandatory licensing conditions which could apply to all alcohol retailers. It will also give licensing authorities more power to tackle local problems which occur in many town centres, allowing them to impose a more detailed set of conditions on two or more premises at the same time, in an area experiencing particularly high levels of alcohol-related nuisance and disorder.
	Ministers have not yet taken any final decisions on the content of the mandatory code but some of the measures we are consulting on include:
	banning offers like "all you can drink for £10";
	outlawing pubs and bars offering promotions to certain groups, such as "women drink free" nights;
	banning staff dispensing alcohol directly into customers' mouths;
	requiring that consumers are able to make informed choices when they buy alcohol; and
	requiring bars and pubs to offer smaller measures available for customers who want them.
	We are holding a series of meetings with key stakeholders, including representatives of local government, enforcement agencies and the general public about the content of the code.
	Details of the consultation can be found at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/cons-2009-alcohol/

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) anti-social behaviour orders and  (b) acceptable behaviour contracts have been issued in (i) Essex and (ii) Castle Point in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: The latest available data on antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) cover the period 1 April 1999 to 31 December 2006. Information on the numbers of ASBOs issued is not available below criminal justice system (CJS) area level. The available information is shown in the table.
	The number of acceptable behaviour contracts (ABCs) is collected by the Home Office through a voluntary survey of crime and disorder reduction partnerships (CDRPs) use of antisocial behaviour tools and powers. The latest data published indicate that over 30,000 ABCs have been made between October 2003 and September 2007, with over 563 issued in the Essex during the same period.
	Currently, data on the number of ABCs issued are not available below regional level.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Number of anti-social behaviour orders ISSUED at all courts in the Essex criminal justice system (CJS) area, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, January 2002 to December 2006 
			  CJS  a rea  Number 
			 2002 2 
			 2003 23 
			 2004 79 
			 2005 88 
			 2006 32

Anti-Terrorism Control Orders

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he plans to bring forward proposals to amend counter-terrorism legislation in light of the recent Law Lords ruling on control orders; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The Government keep individual control orders and counter-terrorism legislation under review. We are considering the impact of this judgment and our options carefully. The Government will continue to take all steps we can to manage the threat posed by suspected terrorists.

Community Policing

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing schemes in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point.

David Hanson: It is for individual police forces and authorities to ensure the effectiveness of neighbourhood policing in their area. The Government will hold forces to account for progress through the single top-down target we have set them to improve public confidence that crime and anti-social behaviour issues are being tackled locally, and in the light of inspection work by Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary (HMIC).
	HMIC has inspected every force in England and Wales to assess their capabilities in delivering neighbourhood policing and developing citizen focus. HMIC's assessment in September 2008 was that all forces, including Essex police, had met this standard.

Data Protection Act 1998

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether all refusals of access to personal data held by his Department for the purpose of safeguarding national security are subject to a certificate signed under section 28 of the Data Protection Act 1998; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: A certificate is not necessary to claim the exemption under section 28 of the Act. Normally, a certificate will be issued when the use of the exemption has been challenged and the Home Secretary has satisfied himself of the need to certify the exemption.

Fingerprints: Databases

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have not been convicted of a crime have their fingerprint records retained on the National Fingerprint Database.

Alan Johnson: The National Fingerprint Database does not hold criminal conviction data; it stores biometric data and basic identity details which can be used to align identity with records on the Police National Computer (PNC). The PNC is an operational tool and not designed to produce the information requested. To obtain the information would incur disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with which countries the UK has a visa facilitation agreement.

Phil Woolas: The EU has concluded visa facilitation agreements with a number of Western Balkans states, as well as Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. The UK does not participate in these EU visa facilitation agreements.

Entry Clearances

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visa applications from  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Pakistan were referred from entry clearance points in those countries to London for decision (i) in each of the last five years and (ii) since 27 October 2008.

Alan Johnson: We do not hold statistics on the number of visa applications from Afghanistan or Pakistan which have been referred for decisions to be made by colleagues in the UK in the past five years.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the colleges that withdrew of their own volition from the new UK Border Agency register process currently sponsor visas for foreign students.

Phil Woolas: A total of four foreign students are currently sponsored by colleges who have withdrawn of their own volition from the UK Border Agency register. The students have leave to remain which was granted to them prior to the introduction of new procedures on 31 March 2009. If, when their current leave lapses, these students wish to seek further leave to remain to continue studying here, they will need to qualify under the points-based system.
	The figures quoted are not provided under National Statistics protocols and have been derived from local management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change.

Police Community Support Officers: Clothing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police community support officers were assaulted while on duty in each of the last three years.

David Hanson: holding answer 12 June 2009
	The information requested is contained in the following table. The increase in assaults over the last three years should be considered in the light of larger percentage increases in number of police community support officers in post over the same period.
	
		
			  Number of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) assaulted while on duty: Police forces in England and Wales 2005-06 to 2007-08( 1) 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Total for all forces providing data 230 141 416 
			 Number of forces providing data 41 28 39 
			 
			  Like-for-like comparison
			 Total for all forces providing data in 2005-06 and 2007-08(2) 208 n/a 396 
			 Number of forces providing data in 2005-06 and 2007-08(3) 37 n/a 37 
			 Number of PCSOs in post in these forces at end of period(2) 6,130 n/a 13,587 
			  Notes:(1) Figures are on a head-count basis. These data are provisional and are unaudited with police forces. Data for 2008-09 will be available later this year.  (2) This represents a 90 per cent. like-for-like increase in assaults between 2005-06 and 2007-08, but this should be set against the increases in numbers of PCSOs in post in these 37 forces of 122 per cent. for the same period.  (3) The 37 forces exclude Cumbria, Devon and Cornwall, Greater Manchester, South Wales, Thames Valley and Wiltshire. These excluded forces accounted for 14 per cent. of total PCSO officer strength on 31 March 2008.

Police: Plymouth

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the budget for policing in Plymouth was in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09;
	(2)  what percentage of the budget for policing in Plymouth was spent on policing in Plympton and Plymstock in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

David Hanson: The Government allocate funding to police authorities as a whole. The allocation of resources to Plymouth is a matter for the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall police and the police authority, who are responsible for assessing local needs.
	Devon and Cornwall's final budget was £256.8 million for 2007-08 and £268.1 million for 2008-09.

Police: Procurement

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department has taken to promote the uptake of collaborative procurement strategies within police forces in England, as recommended in HM Treasury's May 2009 review, "Operational Efficiency Programme: collaborative procurement".

David Hanson: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Chris Grayling) by my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 39W.

WOMEN AND EQUALITY

Gender Pay Gap

John Penrose: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality on what criteria her most recent estimate of the gender pay gap in the  (a) public and  (b) private sector is based.

Michael Jabez Foster: I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the response given earlier today.

Breast Feeding

David Drew: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality if she will bring forward proposals to provide a legal right for women to breastfeed in public places.

Michael Jabez Foster: The Equality Bill which is currently before Parliament makes it clear that it is unlawful discrimination to ask a mother to leave places such as cafes if she is breastfeeding her baby.
	At present we have no plans to bring forward proposals to provide a legal right for women to breastfeed in public places.

Females: Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality what her estimate is of the number of women trafficked into the UK for the purpose of sexual exploitation in 2008.

Michael Jabez Foster: The latest estimate supplied by Home Office is that at any one time in 2003, there were up to 4,000 women had been trafficked into the UK.
	The UK Human Trafficking Centre is undertaking an analysis of the outcomes of Operation Pentameter 2. This analysis, in conjunction with the work based within the regional intelligence units, will inform a more up to date assessment of the extent of trafficking in the UK, which is due by the end of the year.

Rape: Victim Support Schemes

Theresa May: To ask the Minister for Women and Equality pursuant to the answer of 16 March 2009,  Official Report, column 826W, on rape: victim support schemes, what use was made of the £200,000 of the £1.1 million special fund for rape crisis centres which was not paid out.

Michael Jabez Foster: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 551-52W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 20 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1405W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies have paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Interest payments made by all our non-departmental public bodies under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 are not recorded centrally, and therefore can be identified only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Location

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much his Department spent on relocation costs for new members of staff in each of the last three years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department has reviewed the payroll and finance system and no employee (new or existing) has received any allowance for resettlement or cost of excess fares following a move to this Department. All new members of staff are required to self-finance any resettlement costs incurred.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many laptop computers belonging to  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My Department has had no laptop computers lost or stolen over the last five years. Our only agency, Royal Parks, lost one laptop in 2004 which did not contain any personal information.

Departmental Nurseries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not provide any crèche facilities for employees.

Departmental Work Experience

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many  (a) paid and  (b) unpaid graduate internships his Department has awarded in each of the last six months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport does not directly co-ordinate or offer paid or unpaid graduate internships. These are co-ordinated through HM Treasury. The Department has not offered any paid or unpaid internships in the last six months.

Rugby: Drugs

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will investigate allegations of illegal drug consumption by individuals associated with rugby football.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Investigations into allegations of illegal drug possession is a matter for the police, who must prioritise resources towards tackling crime, including drugs crime with a focus on those offences which cause the most harm.
	Any prohibited substance found in a rugby union footballer's bodily specimen that is collected as part of the National Anti-Doping Organisation's testing programme will be fully investigated in line with the anti-doping rules of the sport. Any illegal drug consumption that is suspected and indeed detected as part of a sport's illicit drug programme (akin to employee drug testing) remains within the remit of the National Governing Body to action.

Taking Part Survey

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the results of the Taking Part Survey for 2008-09 to be published.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Data from Taking Part for the full 12 months of the 2008-09 survey will be published on 13 August 2009.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012: Finance

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what her latest estimate is of the cost of hosting the London 2012 Olympic cycling events at the VeloPark.

Tessa Jowell: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for staging the Olympic and Paralympic games including cycling events at the VeloPark.
	The VeloPark is being constructed by the Olympic Delivery Authority, and in the latest London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games Quarterly Economic Report (May 2009), the current anticipated final cost (AFC) of the venue is reported at £94 million (net of external funding contributions and anticipated VAT savings totalling £11 million).
	The direct costs associated with staging the events at the VeloPark come from LOCOG's revenues which are primarily derived from commercial sponsorship, broadcast rights, ticket sales and merchandising/licensing—not from the public purse.
	There will be attributable costs to the public purse from London 2012 venues, including the VeloPark. However, these costs such as in security and transport systems have not yet been identified separately for individual events and will form part of the overall security and transport budgets.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many antisocial behaviour orders were applied for in Northern Ireland in each year since 2004.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office only collects data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders made. It does not record the detail of applications.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many antisocial behaviour orders Carrickfergus borough council applied for in each year since 2004.

Paul Goggins: The Northern Ireland Office only collects data on the number of antisocial behaviour orders made. It does not record the details of applications that have been adjourned, withdrawn or where a final decision has not been made by the court.
	The hon. Gentleman may wish to write to the chief executive of the council for this information.

Northern Ireland Compensation Agency: Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people work for the Compensation Agency for Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: As of 31 March 2009, the Compensation Agency had 74.4 FTE (full-time equivalent) permanent staff in post.

Northern Ireland Forensic Science Agency: Manpower

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people work for Forensic Science Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: As of 23 June 2009, Forensic Science Northern Ireland has 203 permanent staff and 14 temporary staff in post.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Postal Votes

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission how many forms of ballot paper are used for postal voting in elections.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that for each type of election the form of the ballot paper is prescribed in law. The form of the documents sent to postal voters, including the postal voting statement, voting instructions, ballot paper envelope and return envelope, is also prescribed in law and is the same for all elections.
	The Commission has issued guidance on the production of ballot papers and postal voting materials, but it is the responsibility of each returning officer to ensure that the documents sent to postal voters comply with the law. The Commission understands that returning officers adopt a variety of approaches to the stationery and packaging for postal ballot packs.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Chondrocalcinosis

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent research has been commissioned by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies on whether chondrocalcinosis can result from industrial accidents.

Jonathan R Shaw: Neither the Department nor its agencies have commissioned any research into chondrocalcinosis in the context of industrial accidents.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport used for administrative operations by her Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Jonathan R Shaw: The estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport for administrative operations by my Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff are:
	
		
			  Department for Work and Pensions—carbon dioxide emissions from road-based transport 
			   (a) 2006-07  (b) 2007-08 
			 (i) Total CO2 emissions (tonnes) 22,278.96 17,662.93 
			 Full-time equivalent staff 111,734 104,830 
			 (ii) CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff (tonnes) 0.199 0.169

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate she has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in her Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Jonathan R Shaw: The estimate of the carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff by the Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff are:
	
		
			  Department for Work and Pensions—carbon dioxide emissions from air travel 
			   (a) 2006-07  (b) 2007-08 
			 (i) total CO2 emissions (tonnes) 4,633.42 2,789.21 
			 Full-time equivalent staff 111,734 104,830 
			 (ii) CO2 emissions per full-time equivalent member of staff (tonnes) 0.04 0.03

Disability Living Allowance

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many UK citizens resident in other EU countries who are entitled to receive disability living allowance payments have claims outstanding; and what estimate she has made of the time which will be taken to  (a) assess and  (b) make payment in respect of such claims.

Jonathan R Shaw: Since the judgment by the European Court of Justice on 18 October 2007, the Department has made payments to around 1,400 disability living allowance, attendance allowance and carer's allowance customers who now reside in other European economic area (EEA) states or Switzerland.
	The Department started to process claims to disability living allowance from other EEA states and Switzerland following a written ministerial statement on 24 February 2009,  Official  Report, column 22WS, and are working to clear all outstanding claims—around 1,000—as quickly as possible. We do not know how many of these will be entitled to receive disability living allowance payments until we have processed their claims.
	The Pension, Disability and Carers Service aims to process claims for Disability Living Allowance within an average of 38 working days for customers who reside in Great Britain. This includes assessing and making payments in respect of these claims. Claims from people residing in the EEA or Switzerland can take longer to process for a number of reasons, such as post taking longer in transit between the Department and the customer and, for example, the processes involved to obtain supporting medical evidence from abroad, where this is required.

Industrial Health and Safety

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance her Department issues to the relevant authorities on the extent of areas in which persons are liable to be affected by a major accident occurring at  (a) large-scale petrol storage depots and  (b) onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations.

Jonathan R Shaw: Under Regulation 10 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 (as amended) ('COMAH') the duty to supply local authority emergency planners with the information necessary for them to prepare an off-site emergency plan, including the extent of areas in which persons are liable to be affected by a major accident, rests with the site operator.
	To assist operators and others in complying with their duties under COMAH the competent authority has published the following guidance:
	L111—"A guide to the Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations 1999 (as amended)";
	HSG 191 "Emergency planning for major accidents"; and,
	"COMAH—What you should know"—a public information leaflet available on the HSE website.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point received JSA in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for what average length of time jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants resident in  (a) Essex and  (b) Castle Point received JSA in each of the last five years. (281848)
	The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) is taken from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system. The length of a claim has been defined as the time between the start of an individual's claim and that claim ending. Table 1 shows the median length of completed claims during the May count period of the last five years.
	
		
			  Table 1. Median length of completed claims (off-flows) of Jobseeker's Allowance for claimants resident in Essex and Castle Point parliamentary constituency 
			  Months 
			  May  Essex  Castle Point 
			 2005 10.0 9.4 
			 2006 11.5 10.1 
			 2007 11.6 12.2 
			 2008 10.0 8.4 
			 2009 11.0 10.6 
			  Source:  Jobcentre Plus administrative system

Pension Service: Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Pensions Service spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Angela Eagle: The Pension Service spend on consultants in the last four years is shown in the table:
	
		
			  Financial year  Expenditure spent on consultants by the Pension Service (£ million) 
			 2005-06 23.451 
			 2006-07 26.082 
			 2007-08 20.583 
			 2008-09 8.057 
			  Source: The Departmental Resource Management system Investment Management Report Period 2 
		
	
	The Pension Service did not account for the costs of consultancy services separate from other related costs in 2004-05. Figures could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Petrol: Storage

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what developments within development proximity zones surrounding  (a) large-scale petrol storage depots and  (b) onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations do not comply with Health and Safety Executive guidance on development within such zones; and if she will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 22 June 2009
	 Development proximity zones (DPZs) around large-scale petrol storage depots were introduced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in July 2008. Since then HSE has advised against the granting of planning permission on safety grounds for five planning applications which involved developments within a DPZ. In one of these cases the planning authority granted planning permission.
	DPZs only apply to large-scale petrol storage depots. HSE does not record information on the number of developments within the consultation distances around other onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations where planning authorities have granted planning permission following HSE's advice against development.

Public Information Zones

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the radius is of public information zones surrounding  (a) large-scale petrol storage depots and  (b) onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations; and if she will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 22 June 2009
	 Public information zones (PIZs) around large-scale petrol storage depots and other COMAH 'top-tier' onshore non-nuclear major hazard installations are rarely circular. They reflect the effect of site specific conditions, for example, the quantities and locations of hazardous substances stored on the site, and the influence of local weather conditions. PIZs range from a few hundred metres for sites storing flammable substances to a few kilometres for sites storing toxic substances.
	The PIZ around a single, large scale petrol storage tank has a radius of 400 m from the edge of the tank's circular bund. However, most large-scale petroleum storage sites have more than one storage tank, and in some cases the PIZ will extend beyond 400 m due to the presence of the other hazardous substances.
	To provide details of the PIZs for all 'top tier' COMAH sites, including large-scale petrol storage depots, could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what use her Department makes of voice risk analysis products; and what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of their use in her Department's work;
	(2)  which companies supply voice risk analysis products to her Department.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department is currently funding trials of voice risk analysis technology in 24 local authorities. These trials are due to finish in December 2009 and an evaluation report will be produced after that date.
	In 2007-08 the Department conducted small scale trials of voice risk analysis technology in Jobcentre Plus and local authorities. The Department's assessment of these trials has been made available. I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 19-20WS.
	Capita Group, in conjunction with Digilog UK, assisted in the implementation of Voice Risk Analysis technology in small scale trials in local authorities and Jobcentre Plus in 2007-08. This included supplying the system and advising on its use and training.

Social Security Benefits: Overseas Residence

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to which benefits recipients who move to another country in the European Economic Area continue to be entitled when they are no longer resident in the UK; and what rules apply to such recipients.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 23 June 2009
	 In general a person moving to reside in another EEA country can take the following benefits with them if they have satisfied the conditions of entitlement:
	State retirement pension
	Contributory employment and support allowance
	Contributory jobseeker's allowance (JSA)
	Bereavement benefits
	Industrial injuries benefits
	Winter fuel payments
	Cash sickness benefits like statutory sick pay, disability living allowance (care component) (DLA), attendance allowance (AA) and carer's allowance (CA)
	Maternity benefits which are based on a period of employment and a level of earnings
	The right to retain the benefit is tied to conditions specific to each benefit. For example, as far as JSA is concerned, to qualify in the first place a person would have to have done some work in the UK. It can then be retained for up to three months, provided that person has already qualified for it in the UK and is going to the other member state to look for work and fulfils that country's job seeking conditions.

Unemployed: Training

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what estimate she has made of the marginal cost of providing the 75,000 additional training places under the six month offer to the unemployed;
	(2)  how long on average a training course offered as part of the six month offer to the unemployed will last;
	(3)  what qualifications can be gained as a result of the training places to be provided as part of the six month offer to the unemployed;
	(4)  who she expects to deliver the 75,000 new training places to be provided as part of the six month offer to the unemployed.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government are committed to ensuring that people facing redundancy and long term unemployment are able to access the help they need to improve skills and find employment. Since April 2009, the government has made available a new package of help for the unemployed including a £100m package of training for 70,000 people under notice of redundancy, newly redundant, or close to the labour market. This is part of a wider package of advice and guidance available to jobseekers.
	The Government are also investing £83 million over the next two years to support 75,000 people who reach six month JSA claim point to up-skill or re-skill in an area linked to the needs of the local labour market in order to help them get a job. Provision will be tailored to meet the individual's needs and we expect learners typically to follow Skills for Life, Level 2 or Level 3 vocational training. Training will be linked to the needs of the employers in the local job market. Learners can progress onto qualifications from this provision through the Adult Learner Responsive budget or through Train to Gain if they are in employment.
	In the period funded through this programme, we expect learners to achieve a significant step on the path to the qualification of their choice. However, we recognise that it may take longer for them to complete the full qualification and additional support will be available to enable them to do that through Train to Gain or Adult Learner Responsive funding. At this time it is not possible to confirm the average length of training overall which will depend on the nature of that training, and whether it is full or part time.
	Contracts have initially been allocated to colleges, and will be reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that there is a good coverage and learners' needs are being met. A list of providers with whom initial allocations have been agreed has been placed in the House Libraries. However, allocations may change in response to demand and provision may be extended to other providers in the future in certain circumstances.
	A further package of help for young unemployed people was announced in the Budget and includes £122 million for training.

TREASURY

Crown Estate Commissioners

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
	(1)  if he will list the names and locations of structures sited on Crown Estate land but not owned by the Crown Estate to which repair work has been carried out by the Crown Estate;
	(2)  what duty the Crown Estate has to maintain and repair structures located on land owned by the Crown Estate where these contribute towards coastal protection;
	(3)  if he will list the names and locations of  (a) piers and  (b) harbours for which the Crown Estate has a duty of care.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: Crown Estate land comprises extensive urban, rural, foreshore and seabed interests. It does not keep an ownership record of all the structures, including piers and harbours, on its land.
	The Crown Estate does not erect structures on the foreshore and seabed on its land. It permits third parties to do so by granting leases. Such leases normally oblige tenants to repair structures on the land they lease.
	The Crown Estate has no duty to maintain and repair structures on its land for coast protection purposes. Nor has it any general duty of care as landowner for piers or harbours on its land, whether leased or not. In common with all landowners, the Crown Estate has a statutory duty of care to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable injury to persons, and has to comply with any statutory notices.

Crown Estate Commissioners

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much has been spent by the Crown Estate on repairs to historic structures within its care or ownership in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Crown Estate's portfolio includes over 1,000 listed buildings and structures, and many historic structures which may not be listed. Total figures for repairs to historic structures over the last five years are not readily available, and to aggregate all individual repair bills would involve disproportionate time and cost.

Crown Estate Commissioners

Alex Salmond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent by the Crown Estate on  (a) piers and  (b) harbours (i) owned by the Crown Estate and (ii) located on Crown Estate land in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: In relation to piers, the Crown Estate has spent £17,649.98 in connection with works at the Generator Pier, Newburgh in Fife dating between May 2007 and May 2009.
	As far as harbours are concerned, the Crown Estate has spent £2,291,000 in the last five years as follows:
	
		
			  £000 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 River Hamble, investment in and maintenance of mooring piles and pontoons 224.5 321.9 188.8 30.4 91.8 
			 Tobermory, investment in pontoons — — — 240.0 — 
			 Tarbert, investment in pontoons — — — — 645.2 
			 Wick, investment in pontoons — — — — (1)250.0 
			 Crown Estate Marine Stewardship Fund, investment in variety of minor structural projects throughout the UK but mainly in Scotland 34.0 23.0 86.0 116.3 40.0 
			 (1 )Committed but not yet paid.

Departmental Nurseries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury does not provide any crèche facilities.
	The Department supports its staff through the provision of child care vouchers for those eligible. These can be used to fund attendance at crèches at the most convenient locations for staff.
	The Department is a member of the Westminster Holiday Playscheme, which operates during school holidays and is open to children aged 4 years and 9 months up to 12 years of age. The Treasury provides two rooms for this play scheme, which can accommodate up to 18 children.

EU: Legislation

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No such estimate has been made. Figures for the proportion of statutory obligations introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation on matters for which the Treasury are responsible are not available.

Income Tax

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimated additional revenue would be raised in 2010-11 by increasing the higher rate of income tax to 50 per cent. for one year for those with incomes in excess of £60,000 per annum from April 2010.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 22 June 2009
	 The estimated yield from lowering to £60,000 the threshold at which income will be taxed at the additional and dividend additional rates of 50 per cent. and 42.5 per cent. respectively is likely to involve significant behavioural effects. The estimated yield incorporating these behavioural effects can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Northavon of 25 February 2009 on behalf of Mr. Bracey of Coalpit Heath, acknowledged by his Department with the reference: 1/67931/2009.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: A reply has been sent to the hon. Member.

Monetary Policy Committee

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether taking up full-time residence in the UK is a condition of the appointment of Adam Posen to the Monetary Policy Committee.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: As part of the process for appointing members to the Monetary Policy Committee announced by the Chancellor in June 2008, full time residence in the UK is required. This is the basis upon which interviews are held and the basis upon which Dr. Adam Posen will be taking up his position in September 2009.

Revenue and Customs: Maladministration

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the error rate in activity dealing with EU claims relating to business and taxation was at HM Revenue and Customs  (a) Ty-Glas,  (b) Bootle and  (c) Nottingham office in the latest period for which figures are available.

Stephen Timms: holding answer 1 June 2009
	 The information requested is not held and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Discrepancies in claims relating to business and taxation can emanate from a wide range of sources.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2009,  Official Report, column 444W, on HM Revenue and Customs: manpower, how many grades of officer there are in HM Revenue and Customs.

Stephen Timms: In HM Revenue and Customs there are nine main grades of officer:
	1. Administration assistant
	2. Assistant officer
	3. Officer
	4. Higher officer
	5. Senior officer
	6. Fast stream/trainee
	7 Grade 7
	8. Grade 6
	9. Senior civil servant (SCS).
	The SCS grade can be broken down further:
	(a) SCS 1
	(b) SCS 1A
	(c) SCS 2
	(d) SCS 3.

Swine Flu

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether his Department has made an estimate of the effects of swine influenza on inflation in the UK.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury's latest assessment of the economy, including inflation, was published in Budget 2009 (HC 407). Estimates of the effects of swine influenza on inflation in the UK are inherently uncertain and would depend crucially on the necessary assumptions employed. However, HM Treasury continues to monitor all relevant factors from a range of sources to inform its assessment of the UK Economy. The effects on inflation from economic and other developments are also closely monitored by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The MPC has full operational independence from the Government in deciding how to meet the Government's inflation target of 2 per cent. on a Consumer Price Index basis.

Swine Flu

Bob Spink: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the UK economy of the outbreak of swine flu.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Treasury's latest assessment of the economy was published in Budget 2009 (HC 407). Estimates of the potential cost to the UK economy of an outbreak of swine flu are inherently uncertain and would depend crucially on the necessary assumptions employed. HM Treasury continues to monitor all relevant factors from a range of sources to inform its assessment of the UK economy.

Taxation: Alcoholic Drinks

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 18 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 444-45W, on taxation: alcoholic drinks, whether he has made an estimate of the revenue that could result from the taxation of expenditure on advertising by businesses producing alcoholic drinks.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: No estimate has been made of the revenue which could be raised if alcohol advertising were to be subject to taxation.

Taxation: Crown Dependencies

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent progress he has made in negotiations with Crown Dependencies on the establishment of tax information exchange agreements; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The UK has concluded tax information exchange agreements with the Crown Dependencies. The agreement with the Isle of Man was signed on 29 September 2008, with Guernsey on 20 January 2009 and with Jersey on 10 March 2009.

Valuation Office: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assistance the Office for Government Commerce has provided to the Valuation Office Agency on Gateway reviews; and what the  (a) title of each project is and  (b) purpose for which assistance has been provided is.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The Office of Government Commerce has arranged several OGC Gateway™ reviews for the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) on a number of their projects.
	
		
			  Project name  Department /associated body  Start of Gateway  Gate 
			 Data Collection HMRC/VOA 24 September 2003 1 
			 Manual Valuations HMRC/VOA 6 April 2004 1 
			 Manual Valuations HMRC/VOA 17 October 2005 4 
			 CTR 2007—IT Project HMRC/VOA 26 April 2005 1 
			 CTR 2007—Enquiries and Appeals HMRC/VOA 9 May 2005 2 
		
	
	In January 2008 HMRC received delegated authority from the OGC to arrange and carry out Gateway reviews on projects and programmes designated as 'medium risk' within HMRC and its associated agencies and non-departmental public bodies. HMRC carried out a Gateway 0 Review of the VOA's World Class Programme, in October 2008.
	The OGC Gateway Process is designed to provide independent assurance to senior responsible owners (SROs) across central civil Government on the health of their programmes and projects. The selection of the Gateway review team is undertaken independently of VOA by the HMRC Gateway team. The review team leader would be from another Government Department and the review team members would be from within HMRC and independent of the VOA project.
	The purpose of the individual Gateway reviews detailed above is as follows:
	 Gate 0: Strategic assessment
	This is a programme-only review that investigates the direction and planned outcomes of the programme, together with the progress of its constituent projects. It is repeated over the life of the programme at key decision points.
	 Gate 1: Business justification
	This first project review comes after the strategic business case has been prepared. It focuses on the project's business justification prior to the key decision on approval for development proposal.
	 Gate 2: Delivery strategy
	This review investigates the outline business case and the delivery strategy before any formal approaches are made to prospective suppliers or delivery partners. The review may be repeated in long or complex procurement situations.
	 Gate 4: Readiness for service
	This review focuses on the readiness of the organisation to go live with the necessary business changes, and the arrangements for management of the operational services.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces: Deployment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK military personnel are deployed on operations; and what the location is of each such deployment.

Bill Rammell: The endorsed force levels for UK military operations are provided in the following table by location.
	
		
			  Location  Endorsed  n umber( 1)  (at 31 May 2009) 
			 Afghanistan (2)8,300 
			 Iraq (3)— 
			 At sea (4)1,050 
			 Falklands/South Atlantic 1,500 
			 Qatar 250 
			 Cyprus 300 
			 Kuwait (5)1,500 
			 Kosovo <50 
			 Bahrain (6)150 
			 Oman 150 
			 Bosnia <50 
			 Other(6) 100 
			 (1) Rounded to 50 (2) On 29 April 2009, my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, announced on 29 April 2009,  Official Report, column 869, a temporary increase in troop numbers to 9,000 for Operation Herrick to bolster security during the Afghanistan election period. (3) On 15 June, the Prime Minister set out for Parliament on 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 21, the current number of UK military personnel in Iraq (around 500) as we draw down our forces after the conclusion of the combat mission and the number we expect to remain in Iraq after the completion of the drawdown by the end of July (up to 100). (4) Numbers at sea in support of Operations TELIC and CALASH. (5) Temporary increases in endorsed posts during the period of the Operation TELIC drawdown, these numbers fluctuate daily but will not exceed these levels. (6) Small scale deployments in support of EU and UN missions, headquarters liaison officers and capacity building activities. 
		
	
	The precise number of personnel in each theatre at any one time fluctuates significantly on a daily basis for a variety of reasons, including: mid-tour rest and recuperation; temporary absence for training; evacuation for medical reasons; the roulement of forces; visits; and a range of other factors.

Armed Forces: Pay

Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how many service personnel have had salary payments reduced or stopped in order to offset overpayments made as a result of errors in the Joint Personnel Administration system since April 2006;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to eliminate errors in the Joint Personnel Administration system;
	(3)  how many service personnel have been overpaid as a result of errors in the Joint Personnel Administration system since 7 April 2006.

Quentin Davies: The number of service personnel who have had salary payments reduced or stopped in order to offset overpayments made as a result of errors in the Joint Personnel Administration system since April 2006 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Since roll-out in 2006, significant steps have been taken to eliminate errors in the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) (ORACLE) system. To rectify problems identified, 166 fixes to the system have been undertaken, and a further 344 other system changes have been made.
	For the number of personnel overpaid during the period April 2006 to September 2006 inclusive, I refer the right hon. and learned Member to the answer given by the previous Under-Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans (Derek Twigg) on 7 November 2006,  Official Report, column 1470W, to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshire (Mr. Williams). Data for October 2006 to December 2006 inclusive are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	For the number of personnel overpaid during the calendar year 2007, 1 refer the right hon. and learned Member to the reply given by my noble Friend, the Minister for International Defence and Security, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, to the noble Lord, Lord Selkirk of Douglas in another place on 21 January 2008 and 5 February 2008,  Official Report,  House of Lords, columns WA2 and WA163.
	Although similarly detailed information about the number of personnel overpaid from January 2008 to date is not held as JPA is now operating a steady state, an audit undertaken during 2008 identified some 5,800 personnel who may have received duplicate, or overlapping payments of Operational Allowance. An enhancement to the JPA (ORACLE) system to prevent a reoccurrence was introduced in July 2008.
	Delays or errors in individual payments can also occur as the result of late or incorrect inputs by individuals or unit human resources staff. This information is not held centrally and could be provided at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Sick Leave

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many and what percentage of armed forces personnel in each service were  (a) unable to deploy and  (b) only able to undertake limited deployment for medical reasons in each year since 2003.

Kevan Jones: The MOD collates, on a quarterly basis, management information on the number of service personnel "fit for task", which provides a measure of the medical fitness of all trained armed forces personnel. These figures are broken down into three categories: medically fully fit, medically not fully fit, and medically unfit. It should be noted that the majority of those personnel who fall under the category of medically not fully fit remain fit enough to work in some capacity and therefore continue to make a contribution to operational effectiveness, often within theatres of operation.
	Prior to 1 April 2006, information was collected by the single services for internal management purposes, but was not required to be reported centrally in a standardised format. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	For information on the period covering the first quarter of 2006-07 through to the second quarter of 2008-09, I refer the hon. Member to my answers of 20 and 22 January 2009,  Official Report, columns 1262W and 1664W. Medically fit for task figures for the third and fourth quarters of 2008-09 can be found in the following table. Personnel numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and percentages, rounded to one decimal point.
	
		
			Naval Service  Army( 1)  RAF 
			Number  Percentage of trained strength  Number  Percentage of trained strength  Number  Percentage of trained strength 
			 2008-09 Q3 Fully fit for task 30,390 87.4 — — 34,630 88.1 
			  Not fully fit for task 4,320 12.4 — — 4,500 11.5 
			  Unfit for task 70 0.2 — — 160 0.4 
			 2008-09 Q4 Fully fit for task 30,340 87.2 — — 34,400 88.1 
			  Not fully fit for task 4,370 12.6 — — 4,510 11.5 
			  Unfit for task 70 0.2 — — 170 0.4 
			 (1) Since 2007 the Army has collated figures for its deployable elements only not its total trained strength. 
		
	
	Since 1 April 2007 the Army has collated quarterly figures for its deployable elements only, rather than for its total trained strength. For this reason the figures are not comparable to those provided by the Navy and RAF in the same period. The Army's deployability returns provide a snapshot, on a specific day, of the deployability of Army personnel broken down into the following categories: fully deployable; limited deployability (LD); and personnel unable to deploy (PUD). Many of those personnel classed as LD can and will deploy to operational theatres, likewise PUDs will be able to undertake non-deployed duties.
	The following table provides the figures as at 1 December 2008 and 1 April 2009; personnel numbers are rounded to the nearest 10, and percentages rounded to one decimal point.
	
		
			   Number  Percentage  of deployable strength 
			  1 December  20 08   
			 Fully deployable 57,700 78.8 
			 LD for medical reason 7,910 10.8 
			 PUD for reasons 3,900 5.3 
			
			  1 April  20 09   
			 Fully deployable 57,770 78.4 
			 LD for medical reason 8,190 11.1 
			 PUD for reasons 3,860 5.2 
		
	
	For the last quarter, the reporting date has been altered to 1 April, bringing it in line with the financial year and other reporting.

Defence: Procurement

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the cost of the procurement of  (a) aircraft carriers,  (b) Joint Strike Fighter,  (c) the Trident replacement programme,  (d) Type 45 destroyers,  (e) the Future Rapid Effects System,  (f) Astute Class submarines and  (g) Typhoons in the next 12 months.

Quentin Davies: The current estimated expenditure on the procurement of the programmes listed for the next 12 months up to the end of financial year 2009-10 is provided in the following table:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Programme  Direct Resource DEL and Capital DEL  Indirect Resource DEL  Total 
			 Aircraft Carriers 419 29 448 
			 Joint Strike Fighter 142 50 192 
			 Trident Replacement Programme 390 1 391 
			 Type 45 Destroyers 443 114 557 
			 Future Rapid Effect System 45 0 45 
			 Astute Class Submarine 561 80 641 
			 Typhoons 903 92 995 
			  Note: Indirect Resource DEL includes a notional Cost of Capital Charge and Depreciation. 
		
	
	The total estimated expenditure includes equipment procurement costs only and excludes any related equipment support or overhead expenditure.

Defence: Procurement

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent on defence procurement in each of the armed services in the latest year for which figures are available; and how much of that expenditure was incurred in Scotland in each service.

Bob Ainsworth: The Defence budget is spent as efficiently as possible to deliver value for money in producing required military capability, but is not allocated on a regional basis or by individual service. For example, military equipment is provided for the armed forces by the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation, which receives the top level requirements under the guidance of the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Capability). These are determined on a capability basis.
	Estimates for direct MOD expenditure on equipment and non-equipment, and civilian and service personnel in Scotland are provided in the following table. Expenditure has been expressed as a percentage of the MOD's total worldwide actual cash expenditure. It is not possible to give a final figure for expenditure for Scotland as our contractors may place subcontracts with organisations outside Scotland. Moreover, companies in Scotland may receive defence subcontracts from firms elsewhere in the UK.
	
		
			  Scotland 2006-07 
			   £ million at current prices (VAT exclusive) 
			 Total 1,620 
			  Of which:  
			 Service personnel costs 590 
			 Civilian personnel cost 190 
			 Equipment expenditure 520 
			 Non-equipment expenditure 320 
			   
			 Total as percentage of net cash requirement 5.2 
			 Total as percentage of near cash 5.3 
			  Note: Figures rounded to nearest £10 million 
		
	
	The MOD presents estimates of annual procurement of goods and service in the UK broken out by industry sector and estimates of aggregate MOD equipment expenditure annually in "The UK Defence Statistics", which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.dasa.mod.uk/UKDS2008/ukds.html
	The most recent data cover 2002-03 to 2006-07 and the data for 2008-09 will be published on 27 September 2009. Given that there is no regional consideration to the defence budget, we will no longer produce a regional breakdown of direct defence employment and associated expenditure after then.
	There is a strong manufacturing base in Scotland as a result of sustained investment by the UK Government. The Scottish Affairs Select Committee report into Employment and Skills for the Defence Industry in Scotland, published in June 2008, said that "the defence industry is vital to Scotland". Defence and aerospace industries generate nearly £2.31 billion in sales and together with the MOD support almost 50,000 jobs and a record number of apprentices.

EC Law

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the proportion of statutory obligations provided for by legislation on matters for which his Department is responsible which were introduced as a consequence of obligations arising from EU legislation in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bob Ainsworth: The Department has not had to introduce new legislative instruments as a result of obligations under EU Legislation.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Cameroon: Prisoners

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will request a report from the Cameroon authorities on the  (a) health of and  (b) availability of medical assistance,  (c) physical conditions at the place of detention and  (d) process for appeal against their sentence of the imprisoned chairman and vice chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council.

Chris Bryant: The chairman of the Southern Cameroons National Council (SCNC), Chief Ayamba Ette Otun, together with the vice chairman Nfor Ngala Nfor, and activist Enow John Enow were released on bail on 3 June 2009 and remain at liberty. The process by which they may appeal against their sentence is a matter of Cameroon law and for their legal representatives to advise them.

Commonweatlh

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department's White Paper on the Commonwealth is expected to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no current plans to publish a White Paper on the Commonwealth.

Commonweatlh

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what  (a) financial and  (b) other contribution his Department will make to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2009.

Ivan Lewis: The Government of Trinidad and Tobago will meet overall costs of hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which takes place in Port of Spain in November 2009.
	We have shared experience of running international summits with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and remain in regular contact with the National Secretariat of Trinidad and Tobago which is responsible for co-coordinating CHOGM.

Departmental Nurseries

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what crèche facilities his Department provides for its employees working in Whitehall.

Chris Bryant: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) operates a nursery in King Charles Street, Whitehall for up to 42 children from 8-6 pm Monday to Friday. Places are open to children of staff, whether fathers or mothers and whether full-time or part-time employees.
	The nursery is certified by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (OFSTED) as an approved day care facility for children between six months and five years of age. The nursery is managed by Bright Horizons Family Solutions, a company specialising in the running of workplace nurseries. The FCO nursery received a top 'outstanding' mark in a recent OFSTED inspection (24 April 2009).
	The FCO also runs a nursery for staff working at its second site, Hanslope Park, near Milton Keynes.

European Commission

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in which international bodies the European Commission has representational rights greater than those of the UK.

Chris Bryant: In order to answer this question we would require an assessment of the division of competence between the Community and the member states in respect of all international agreements to which the Community and the member states are parties. This would involve a disproportionate cost.

Georgia: International Assistance

Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department has taken to ensure the continuation of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's mission to Georgia.

Chris Bryant: We lobbied Russia several times before the first suspension of negotiations over the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in Georgia in December 2008. In response to the Greek Chairmanship's proposal to revive negotiations, the UK accepted in principle a compromise text that met many of Russia's key concerns. Despite the efforts of the Greek chairmanship, Russia decided to block the renewal of the mandate. Russia's counter-proposals were unacceptable to the other participating states in the OSCE.
	The UK has begun discussions with our partners at the OSCE to ensure a continued OSCE presence in Georgia and the separatist regions, building on the work previously done by the monitoring mission. We remain keen for the OSCE's expertise in human rights and democratisation to be used towards peace and stability in Georgia. Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on 18 June 2009 that it did not want to see the OSCE leave the region definitively. We will urge Russia to stick to this assertion and participate constructively in talks.

Georgia: International Assistance

Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had in the Council of Ministers of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the continuation of the OSCE mission in Georgia after 30 June 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Bryant: Despite the admirable efforts of the Greek chairmanship to reach a compromise, we deeply regret Russia's decision to block the renewal of the mandate for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission to Georgia, which is now due to close on 30 June 2009.
	Russia refused to agree to terms which were acceptable to all 55 of the other OSCE participating states, and insisted that OSCE monitors could not have full freedom of movement. This development, together with Russia's decision on 16 June 2009 to veto a resolution to extend the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia, undermines our continuing efforts to find a peaceful political resolution to the conflict in Georgia and to support the humanitarian needs of those affected by conflict.
	We, together with our OSCE partners, will look for alternative ways for the OSCE to engage in Georgia and the separatist regions which continue to respect Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity. We urge Russia to respond constructively.

Indonesia

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Indonesian government on reported attacks on civilians in the Puncak Jaya region of West Papua; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: My hon. Friend, the Member for Harlow (Bill Rammell) the then Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised continuing UK concern at the human rights situation in Papua with Indonesian Foreign Minister Wirajuda when they met in Jakarta on 10 February 2009, and again at the Asia Europe Meeting in Hanoi on 25 May 2009. The UK continues to advocate meaningful devolution, appropriate security measures and greater transparency in Papua.
	The Indonesian Government has made progress on human rights over the last decade. During the recent elections, we were aware of reports of tensions in Papua with regard to the actions of the security forces. Officials from our embassy in Jakarta last visited Papua on 17, 18 and 19 June 2009. They held meetings with officials, academics and non-governmental organisations in the region. Although recognising that problems remain, they report a general consensus that there has been a more sensitive and tempered response to some incidents of unrest, including in the Puncak Jaya area, by the law enforcement agencies.

Iran: Internet

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations at EU level for a prohibition on the supply to Iran of technology to inspect, monitor and filter internet content; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We are deeply concerned by the restrictions that the Iranian authorities have placed on communications networks in Iran and have made clear that we support the right of the Iranian people to communicate and express their views freely. We and our EU partners have set this out in recent statements. We will continue to monitor the situation.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on the preconditions necessary for the establishment of a lasting two-state solution with regard to Israel and Palestine.

Ivan Lewis: The UK welcomes the Israeli Prime Minister's support for a two-state solution. His speech on 14 June 2009 was a positive step towards making further progress on the peace process. However, more is needed from Israel on the issue of settlements: a complete freeze in settlement construction, in line with Israel's Roadmap commitments. We also emphasis that the Palestinians should continue to be prepared to engage in negotiations with Israel towards achieving a two-state solution.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the types of weapon used by Israeli forces in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.

Ivan Lewis: We have seen unconfirmed reports from journalists, non-governmental organisations and other international observers about weapons and types of ammunition used by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) during Operation Cast Lead.
	Of specific concern was the UN Board of Inquiry's findings on the use of white phosphorus. The Israeli authorities carried out an investigation and concluded that the IDF's use of white phosphorus did not breach its obligations under international law. Nevertheless, more generally, IDF investigations have stated that there were a very small number of incidents in which intelligence or operational errors took place during the fighting.
	It is important that Israel continue to ensure that credible allegations are fully investigated. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reiterated this in his statement at the UN Security Council debate on 11 May 2009.

Nuclear Weapons

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs under what international security conditions the Government would participate in the multilateral nuclear disarmament process.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have set out the UK's vision for a world free from nuclear weapons, and the Government are at the forefront of efforts to create the conditions to bring this about. The Foreign Secretary set out these conditions in detail in the paper Lifting the Nuclear Shadow published in February 2009. As soon as it becomes useful for our arsenal to be included in a broader negotiation, we stand ready to participate and act.

Nuclear Weapons: Arms Control

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his Department's evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee's inquiry into Global Security: Non Proliferation, HC 222, EV 118, under what circumstances the UK will include Trident warheads in a negotiation to reduce warhead numbers; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Government are at the forefront of international efforts to create the conditions for a world free from nuclear weapons. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister said on 17 March 2009 that as soon as it becomes useful for our minimum deterrent, currently represented by the Trident system, to be included in a broader disarmament negotiation, we stand ready to participate and act. However, to reach that point would require a much more secure and predictable global political and security environment. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary set out in detail the conditions needed for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the steps that could be taken towards achieving them in the paper Lifting the Nuclear Shadow published in February 2009.

Pakistan: Politics and Government

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment has been made of the security situation in  (a) the province of Sindh and  (b) Karachi following violence in early June; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Ethnic tension and political rivalry leading to violence is not uncommon in Karachi. However, increased violence in Karachi and Sindh over the last six weeks is a cause for concern, particularly given the apparent targeting of political activists. We understand 17 people affiliated to local political parties have been arrested. We continue to closely monitor the situation and urge all parties to refrain from violence.

Sri Lanka

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions has he had with the Sri Lankan government on the return of all internally-displaced people from the former conflict zones in the north of the country to their homes by the end of 2009; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary raised this issue with the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Bogollagama when they met on 5 June 2009. The Foreign Minister reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of Sri Lanka to resettle the majority of internally displaced persons before the end of the year. We will continue to urge the Government of Sri Lanka to make progress on this commitment and we stand ready to offer practical assistance through the Department for International Development's humanitarian funding programme.

Sudan: Elections

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans his Department has to monitor the presidential elections in Sudan in 2010.

Ivan Lewis: We would like the 2010 presidential elections in Sudan to be observed by competent and experienced bodies and organisations, including for example the EU. The EU received an invitation from the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Elections Commission in February 2009 to join a group of other countries and regional bodies to supply electoral observers. The UK will offer any assistance we can to the observer mission, including personnel.

Tamils

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has received reports of Tamil fighters aiding Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

Ivan Lewis: We have received no reports of Tamil fighters aiding the Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

USA

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received of the shooting at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC on 10 June; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: We were shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a security guard following the shooting incident at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC on 10 June 2009.
	I have received no formal reports of this incident.

TRANSPORT

Satellite Navigation Devices

Jo Swinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment his Department has made of the merits of regulating satellite navigation devices.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport has been reviewing route guidance system issuesincluding regulationand believes that national regulation is not the most effective mechanism to address many of the concerns often associated with use of satellite navigation devices.

Rail Network: Capacity

Ann Winterton: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of the rail network.

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had on overcrowding on the rail network.

Chris Mole: The Secretary of State has regular meetings with the train operating companies to discuss progress on delivery of our commitments to increase capacity as set out in the Rail White Paper, Delivering a Sustainable Railway. 543 new vehicles have already been ordered to provide additional capacity in our busiest cities. This forms part of the 10 billion that we have committed to spend on enhancing rail capacity by 2014.

Heathrow Airport

David Evennett: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had on the implications for air quality and road traffic congestion of a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Paul Clark: Ministers have had no such discussions since the Heathrow decisions were announced to Parliament on 15 January by my right hon. Friend, the then Secretary of State for Transport. It is now for BAA to decide how to take matters forward in the context of a planning application.

Speed Limits

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had on speed limits on single-carriageway roads.

Paul Clark: In the current consultation entitled A Safer Way, we propose a targeted approach in which local traffic authorities are encouraged to consider lower speed limits on those single carriageway roads where there are particular casualty problems. As part of the consultation the Department's officials are conducting discussions with a number of interested parties.

Uninsured Drivers

Paul Holmes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what steps the Secretary of State is taking to reduce the number of uninsured drivers.

Paul Clark: We have already enabled the police to have data on uninsured vehicles for use with their automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) equipment, and to seize and destroy vehicles being driven uninsured.
	We introduced a new offence in August 2008 of causing death by driving while unlicensed, disqualified or uninsured, which carries a custodial sentence of up to two years.
	The Road Safety Act 2006 introduced a new offence of being a registered keeper of a vehicle for which there is no valid motor insurance, to be enforced from the record by a procedure of Continuous Insurance Enforcement. We intend to bring in further regulations to bring these provisions into force. It is planned to commence the Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme in 2010-11 starting with an initial publicity campaign to raise public awareness.

Concessionary Travel: Jobseekers

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the provision of concessionary travel for jobseekers attending interviews.

Sadiq Khan: There have not been specific discussions on this issue with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Jobcentre plus already offers a number of schemes to help jobseekers with the cost of travel, including their Travel to Interview Scheme and help with train fares for those on the New Deal programme.

NHS Facilities: Transport Requirements

Peter Bone: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport whether his Department has issued any recent guidance on transport requirements in relation to new NHS facilities.

Sadiq Khan: This summer we plan to publish Local Transport Plan guidance, which will encourage good integration between local transport authorities and NHS agencies. Relevant guidance has also been published by a local government led group on Providing Transport in Partnershipa guide for health agencies and local authorities.

London City Airport

James Brokenshire: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had with the National Air Traffic Service on the effect on congestion of the recent increase in traffic capacity at London City airport.

Paul Clark: None. The air traffic management aspects of implementing the increase in the number of annual flights at London City Airport approved last October by the London borough of Newham are an operational matter for NATS, regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority.

Departmental Internet

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport pursuant to the answer of 3 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1124W, on departmental internet, how many  (a) unique visitors and  (b) page impressions were received by each website operated by his Department in each of the last 12 months.

Chris Mole: Tables have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses showing websites currently maintained by the Department for Transport and the unique visitors and page impressions received by each website in each of the last 12 months.
	Data are unavailable in some instances, either for technical reasons or because the website was not live at the time.
	Since April 2009 the Department has been measuring website usage in line with the guidance issued by the Central Office of Information, 'Measuring website usage (TG116)'.

Ports: Non-domestic Rates

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what recent discussions the Secretary of State has had with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on the effect on businesses in and around ports of changes to port rating.

Paul Clark: Following representations received on behalf of businesses in ports, my predecessor, the hon. Member for Poplar and Canning Town (Jim Fitzpatrick), held discussions earlier this year with the Minister for Local Government, and with representatives of the ports. Department for Transport officials have discussed the matter with Department for Communities and Local Government officials.

Railways: Franchises

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport which train operator franchises include revenue support clauses.

Chris Mole: A revenue share/support mechanism means that where a train operating company generates revenue in excess of those agreed in their winning bid, the Government are entitled to a share, and similarly where revenue is lower, the Government supports the train operating company. The following train operating companies have a revenue share/support mechanism in their franchise agreement:
	Arriva Cross Country (AXC)
	East Midland Trains (EMT)
	First Capital Connect FCC)
	First Great Western (FGW)
	London Midland (LOM)
	London South Eastern Railway
	National Express East Anglia (NXEA)
	National Express East Coast (NXEC)
	Northern Rail
	Stagecoach South Western (SSW)
	Virgin West Coast (VWC).
	The recently let South Central, to begin in September of this year, has a revenue share/support mechanism.
	Arriva Train Wales is part funded by the Department for Transport but is managed by the Welsh Assembly.

Railways: Greater London

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport when he expects to publish the Fares Direction for London; and whether the Direction will specify a date by which the use of Oyster Pay As You Go is to be accepted on the national rail network in the London area.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport, Transport for London and train operators are working together on the acceptance of Oyster Pay as You Go at London train stations and the acceptance of ITSO Smartcards on Oyster equipment. Subject to a successful conclusion to the current discussions, which will include the issue of Fares Directions to the operators, we anticipate that Oyster will be accepted throughout the London network towards the end of the current year, or very early in 2010.

Railways: Greater London

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what discussions the Secretary of State has had with the Mayor of London on  (a) responsibility for the rail network in London and  (b) re-zoning in London; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: As part of regular meetings and correspondence between the Mayor and the Secretary of State for Transport, topics related to franchising such as the responsibility for the rail network in London, along with re-zoning have been discussed.

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the deferral by Network Rail of track renewals as a means to meet efficiency targets imposed by the Office of Rail Regulation; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: Track renewal is an operational matter for Network Rail as it aims to deliver the output and efficiency targets agreed with the Independent Office of Rail Regulation over the next five years.
	Network Rail will be investing almost 4 billion on an intensive track renewals programme over Control Period 4. The Office of Rail Regulation is satisfied that this funding provides for works that are sufficient to maintain safety and the quality of the rail network.
	We understand that total outputs will remain as previously planned, although phasing adjustments in the early part of the five year period will result in a lower volume of track renewals in the first year to allow time for new and more efficient working methods to take effect.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many direct payments to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment Scheme have been reduced by  (a) five per cent. and less and  (b) 20 per cent. or more in (i) England, (ii) Essex and (iii) Castle Point constituency in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of payments to Single Payment Scheme claimants in England that have been reduced by  (a) 5 per cent. and less and  (b) 20 per cent. or more as a result of the application of penalties during each scheme year since the scheme's introduction is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Scale of penalty applied 
			  SPS scheme year  5 per cent. and less  20 per cent. or more 
			 2005 9,597 3,060 
			 2006 8,406 1,487 
			 2007 9,062 1,508 
			 2008(1) (1)5,173 (1)672 
			 (1) These numbers may increase when all payments for the 2008 scheme year have been made. 
		
	
	Unfortunately the data required to provide payment information for Essex and Castle Point constituency are not held in a form that is easily accessible. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Agriculture: Test Valley

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department allocated for the development of environmentally-sustainable farming in the Test Valley borough in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Resources for agri-environment agreements are allocated nationally by Natural England, rather than to individual boroughs. Over the past five calendar years, the following sums have been paid in agri-environment agreements on farms that include land within the Test Valley borough.
	
		
			   
			  Calendar year  Countryside stewardship scheme  Environmentally sensitive area  Environmental stewardship  Total for year 
			 2005 1,025,752 185,832 0 1,211,584 
			 2006 1,202,756 180,725 272,375 1,655,856 
			 2007 1,091,348 177,768 1,144,338 2,413,454 
			 2008 1,078,669 120,597 1,600,218 2,799,484 
			 2009 (to 18 June) 29,898 14,530 944,282 988,710 
		
	
	The Test and Itchen Valleys are one of Natural England's 110 Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) Target Areas, designed to maximise environmental benefits and value for money from HLS agreements, published and promoted from November 2008.
	 Source:
	The above information was provided by Natural England.

Agriculture: Test Valley

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much funding his Department allocated for the support of farmers in the Test Valley borough in each of the last five years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DEFRA does not record information on payments to farmers on a borough basis. The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Agriculture: Waste Disposal

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government have spent on research into  (a) bioreducer methods,  (b) anaerobic digestion,  (c) biodigestion and  (d) other methods for farmers to dispose of fallen stock in the last three years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government have spent 213,590 on research into anaerobic digestion, 248,415 on research into biodigestion and 757,000 on research into other methods for disposal of contaminated animals in the last three years. DEFRA has not funded any specific research into bioreducer methods; however, the Welsh Assembly Government is currently funding research in this area.

Central Science Laboratory: Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Central Science Laboratory spent on consultants in each of the last five years.

Dan Norris: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Financial year   
			 2008-09 385,617.65 
			 2007-08 309,425.88 
			 2006-07 365,955.89 
			 2005-06 212,625.57 
			 2004-05 250,115.72 
		
	
	The largest spends for CSL cover specific consultancy costs which relate to:
	systems implementations
	commercial advice re spinout company
	science accreditation
	facilities management
	customer satisfaction independent surveys
	operational process reviews
	There were particular charges (e.g. IT, branding) incurred during the last year in relation to the establishment of the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera). Excluding these, the underlying CSL consultancy spend was 137,000.

Dairy Farming: Government Assistance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on assistance to farmers who lost money owing to the failure of Dairy Farmers of Great Britain.

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 23 June 2009
	DEFRA Ministers hold regular discussions with HMT Ministers on a range of topics.
	There are publicly-funded schemes available through Business Link to assist small businesses (such as farms) when they become affected by the economic downturn, or when they find their ability to get credit is affected in situations such as this. There is also the HMRC Business Payment Support Service, which may enable affected farmers to defer certain tax and national insurance payments.

Dairy Farming: Government Assistance

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial support his Department has given to dairy farmers in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Eligible dairy farmers receive support under a range of Common Agriculture Policy measures, including the Single Payment Scheme (SPS). The continued progress of the Rural Payments Agency in making more timely SPS payments has helped farmers' cash flow with around 1.6 billion (98 per cent.) paid to date under the 2008 scheme.
	The Regional Development Agencies deliver a 300 million programme of investment in improving the competitiveness of farming and forestry under the 2007-13 Rural Development Programme for England, of which at least 107 million is being targeted at the livestock sector to help it meet the particular challenges that it faces.

Departmental Correspondence

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of letters to his Department from hon. Members' Parliamentary offices were answered within 30 days of the date of receipt in each quarter from January 2008 to March 2009.

Dan Norris: The Cabinet Office, on an annual basis, publishes a report to Parliament on the performance of Departments in replying to Members' correspondence. The report for 2008 was published on 2 April 2009,  Official Report, columns 80-86WS.

Departmental Public Consultation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many public consultations have been conducted by his Department since 27 June 2007; what the title of each has been; how many responses were received at each; and what estimate has been made of the total cost incurred for each consultation.

Dan Norris: In line with the code of practice on consultations, DEFRA publishes all its consultation documents on its website at:
	www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/default.asp
	However, the 152 consultations DEFRA has conducted since 27 June 2007 to date are listed in the following table. The number of responses received for individual consultation is recorded in the Government response documents. All response documents that are produced are published on the departmental website alongside the consultations themselves. Information on the total cost incurred for each consultation is not available and could be obtained only at disproportional cost.
	
		
			  Table: Consultations from 27 June 2007 to date 
			  Start date  End date  Consultation title 
			 28 June 2009 21 September Consultation on the interpretation of the definition of municipal waste used in the landfill allowance trading scheme 
			 3 July 28 September Consultation on implementation of part 1 of the Commons Act 2006 
			 11 July 1 October Wildlife health strategy 
			 18 July 10 October Consultation on the fourth environmental permitting programme 
			 18 July 10 October Consultation on Salmonella in laying flocks 
			 19 July 11 October Consultation on DEFRA'S contingency plan for exotic animal diseases 
			 25 July 19 October Consultation on the implementation options for the transfer of private sewers to water and sewerage companies 
			 27 July 19 October Consultation on the soil framework directive 
			 1 August 24 October Consultation on the implementation of the European pollutant release and transfer register, and the establishment of a UK pollutant release and transfer register 
			 3 August 26 0ctober Consultation on energy services directive 
			 13 August 2 November Consultation on Recycle on the GO 
			 15 August 07 November Consultation on UK report regarding plans and programmes to meet EU air quality limit values (reporting year 2005) 
			 17 August 09 November Consultation on Commission Proposal to recast Directive 92/34 on the marketing of fruit plant propagating material and plants 
			 21 August 13 November Consultation on Catchment Sensitive farming/nitrates and diffuse water pollutionthree consultations to be launched 
			 7 September 7 December Consultation on statutory measures to protect areas of Lyme Bay 
			 10 September 05-November Consultation on a draft second edition of IPPC SG6 for A2 activities in the solvents sector 
			 19 September 12-December Consultation on a licensing scheme for the sale and purchase of non-compliant paints for use on historic buildings and vintage vehicles 
			 5 October 4 January 2008 Consultation on LA environmental regulation of industrial plant: 2008-09 fees and charges 
			 8 October 30 November Consultation on packaging targets 
			 10 October 3 January 2008 Consultation on Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 
			 7 November 20 November 2007 Consultation on double tagging of sheep and goat 
			 8 November 31 January 2008 Consultations on amendment to schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and Orders to ban the sale of certain non-native species 
			 12 November 4 February 2008 Consultation on the implementation of the revised Bathing Water Directive 
			 12 October 18 December 2007 Consultation on amendments to mutilations regulations (England) 2007 
			 12 October 15 February 2008 Consultation on a system of administrative penalties for fisheries offences 
			 13 October 5 February 2008 Consultation on possible changes of use of personal data held on the GB poultry register 
			 16 October 22 February 2008 Consultation on third sector 
			 November 2007 14 January 2008 Consultation on the merger of PSD into HSE 
			 December 2007 7 March 2008 Consultation on recreational sea angling 
			 11 December 15 April 2008 Consultation on cost sharing and responsibility sharing 
			 13 December 6 March 2008 Consultation on energy services directive article 5 
			 19 December 7 March 2008 Consultation on Aquatic Animal Health Directive transposition 
			 19 December 19 March 2008 Consultation on climate change simplification plan 
			 20 December 13 March 2008 Consultation on batterieson not being hosted on DEFRA website-BERR website 
			 21 December 14 March 2008 Consultation on auction design for Phase II of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme 
			 31 December 25 March 2008 Consultation on spirits regulations 
			 31 December 25 March 2008 Consultation on Scotch Whisky regulations 
			 9 January 2008 17 January and 29 February 20082 dates Consultation on proposal of two per cent. milk quotas 
			 14 January 31 March 2008 Consultation on national listing and plant breeders' right fees 
			 7 February 30 April 2008 Consultation on surface water management 
			 7 February 30 April 2008 Consultation on guidance to Ofwat 
			 7 February 30 April 2008 Consultation on phosphates in detergents-laundry 
			 17 January 8 April Consultation on mining waste Directive (CLG led) 
			 21 January 14 April Consultation on sustainable products (market transformation programme website) 
			 4 February 6 May 2008 Consultation on charging for CITES licences 
			 30 January 2008 29 April 2008 Consultation on the future of the aggregates levy sustainability fund April 2008 to March 2011 
			 25 February 19 May 2008 Consultation on river basin planning (volume) 
			 27 February 2008 19 May 2008 Consultation on the transposition of Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom 
			 29 February 2008 23 May 2008 Consultation on implementation of fruit and vegetable reforms 
			 29 February 2008 27 May 2008 Consultation on Environmental Liability Directive: 2(nd) consultation 
			 7 March 2008 4 April Consultation on European Fisheries Fund: UK Operational programme (1st phase) 
			 7 March 2008 18 April Consultation on Fal and Helford 
			 March 2008 30 May Consultation on statutory notification requirements for potatoes introduced into England and Wales from other EU Member States 
			 17 March 2008 9 June Consultation on joint waste authorities 
			 18 March 2008 29 April Consultation on producer responsibility obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007; Directive 2004/12/EC (amending Directive 94/62/EC on packaging and packaging waste). 
			 20 March 25 April Consultation on the remaking of the drinking milk reg's 
			 31 March 23 June Consultation on soil strategy for England 
			 3 April 26 June Consultation on TSE Regulations 2007 
			 3 April 26 June Consultation draft Marine Bill 
			 8 April 29 August Consultation on the strategy of health of honey bees 
			 2 May 27 June Consultation on European Fisheries Fund: UK Operational programme (2nd phase) 
			 7 May 30 July Consultation on the EU Commission's proposals to amend the EU ETS from 2013 
			 9 May 23 May Consultation on the remaking of Eggs and Chicks (England) Regulations 2008 
			 14 May 6 August Consultation on draft AQEG report: Ozone in the United Kingdom 
			 14 May 6 August Consultation on EPAQS report: guidelines for metals and metalloids in ambient air for the protection of human health 
			 14 May 6 August Consultation on EPAQS report: Addendum to Guidelines for halogen and hydrogen halides in ambient air for protecting human health against acute irritancy effects 
			 28 May 20 August Consultation on Groundwater Regulations 
			 29 May 25 July Consultation on the European Commission's proposed Directive on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) (Recast)Intensive livestock 
			 29 May 25 July Consultation on the European Commission's proposed Directive on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) (Recast) 
			 29 May 25 July Consultation on the European Commission's proposed Directive on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)(Recast)Combustion Plants 
			 2 June 25 August Consultation on REACH Enforcement 
			 2 June 22 August Consultation on Dangerous wild animals Act 1976-reform order 
			 6 June 31 July Consultation on the European Commission's proposed Directive on Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control)(Recast)-emissions 
			 9 June 1 September Consultation on CAP Health checks 
			 13 June 25 July Consultation on Wine SI 2008 
			 16 June 11 August Consultation on Sector Guidance Note SG8: Rendering 
			 13 June 17 September A second consultation on the controls on the handling, transfer and transport of waste 
			 12 June  Consultation on White paper- Radioactive waste 
			 18 June 30 September Consultation on revised UK Strategy for Radioactive waste discharge limits 2006-2030 
			 23 June 17 October Consultation on Revised Membership Arrangements for Northumberland National Park Authority 
			 June 2008 22 September Consultation on Wildlife Management strategy 
			 30 June 30 September Consultation on Our Seas-a shared resource 
			 1 July 17 October Consultation on The Beef and Veal Labelling Regulations 2008 (England) 
			 4 July 26 September Consultation on Air Quality guidance 
			 11 July 3 October Consultation on f gases and ozone 
			 15 July 10 October Consultation on Phytopthora Ramorem and Phytophthora kernoviae 
			 21 July 10 October Consultation on DEFRA's Contingency Plan 
			 21 July 20 October Consultation on Gangmasters Licensing (Exclusions) regulations 
			 25 July 17 October Consultation on changes to the Local Government Act 1972 to allow local authorities in England to work together on animal health 
			 28 July 20 October Consultation on a Code of Practice for the sustainable use of soils on construction sites 
			 28 July 28 November Consultation on Direct Elections to National Park Authorities 
			 30 July 31 October Consultation on flood resilience 
			 30 July 31 October Consultation on flooding, coastal erosion management 
			 31 July 2008 23 October Consultation on review of Waste exemptions 
			 5 August 2008 28 October Consultation on plans to meet EU air quality limit values 
			 8 August 2008 3 October Consultation on the English inshore fleet-looking to the future 
			 11 August 3 November Consultation on private water supplies 
			 4 September 28 November Consultation on Aviation action plans 
			 5 September 28 November Consultation on VMD 
			 8 September 28 November Consultation on common land councils 
			 15 September 14 November Consultation on Recycling Service guidance 
			 23 September 15 December Consultation on NCP Broiler flocks reg's 
			 26 September 19 December Consultation on LA Environmental regulation of Industrial plant 2009-10 fees and charges 
			 30 September 23 December Consultation on the Conservation Varieties 
			 16 October 19 December Consultation on direction to the EA on classification of Water bodies 
			 October 2008 3 December Consultation on proposed changes to BSE Testing 
			 4 November 31 December Consultation on Code of practice on Cat, Dog and Equine 
			 4 November 2008 6 February Consultation on revision of our swine vesicular disease legislation 
			 7 November 30 January Consultation on the code of practice for animal feeds 
			 10 November 2 February Consultation on the equine ID 
			 13 November 2008 6 February Consultation on Animal By products regulations 
			 13 November 2008 6 February Consultation on Hazardous waste regulations 
			 14 November 6 February Consultation on the Better Regulation review and six year review 
			 18 November 10 February Consultation on School Milk 
			 27 November 19 February Consultation on Marine Works (amendment to regulations) 
			 17 December 20 March Consultation on the Rules of court for the water and sewerage special administration regime 
			 17 December 27 March Consultation on National Flood Emergency framework 
			 22 December 31 March 2009 Consultation on Water Protection Zones 
			 22 December 22 March Consultation on Batteries Directive-draft regulations-to be published on BERR website 
			 6 January 31 March Consultation on handling LA's powers to regulate paint supplies 
			 16 January 10 April Consultation on regulations to allow the free passage of fish in inland waters 
			 20 January 27 March Consultation on allocating increased milk quota 
			 26 January 20 April Consultation to protect the welfare of chicken meat 
			 27 January 20 April Consultation on Air Quality directive extension 
			 27 January 20 April Consultation on the Welfare of Animals at killing 
			 16 February 11 May Consultation on proposed amendments to environmental noise (England) regulations 2006 
			 16 February 11 May Consultation on Environmental Permitting Programme 2 
			 27 February 24 April Consultation on the revised EU marketing standards for fruit and veg 
			 3 March 26 May Consultation on transposing INSPIRE Directive 
			 4 March 27 May Consultation on Changes to the Cross Compliance Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition Standards in England - 4 
			 13 March 24 April Consultation on eggs and chicks regulations 2009 
			 26 March 19 June Consultation on seeds certification fees 
			 27 March 19 June Consultation on the control of potato cyst nematodes 
			 27 March 19 June Consultation on Animal Act 1971- LRO 
			 30 March 30 June Consultation on Responsibility and Cost Sharing 
			 31 March 23 June Consultation on EID 
			 31 March 20 April Consultation on Statutory Instrument for a Code of Conduct for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) Conservation Boards 
			 20 April 13 July Consultation on MPA Strategy 
			 21 April 24 July Consultation on draft floods and water Bill 
			 27 April 20 July Consultation on veterinary entry checks on rabies-susceptible animals 
			 29 April 22 July Consultation on water abstractions regulations 
			 29 April 22 July Consultation on implementation of the CAP health checks reforms relating to the SPS and other direct payments 
			 30 April 22 July Consultation on Greyhound regulations 
			 30 April 31 July Consultation on the Revised Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice 
			 5 May 24 June Consultation on Commission Proposal for a new Control Regulation 
			 6 May 29 July Consultation on EPP2 guidance 
			 12 May 4 August Consultation on Time limiting water abstractions 
			 22 May 17 August Consultation on Koi Herpes Virus Disease Status (KHV) 
			 5 June 3 August Consultation on minor amendments to the Habitats regulations 
			 5 June 7 August Consultation on draft guidance how to measure and report your greenhouse gases 
			 11 June 4 September Consultation on EUP Labelling market surveillance and enforcement 
			 15 June 25 September Consultation on coastal erosion 
			 18 June 2009 9 September Consultation on reporting power in the Climate Change Act

Floods: Cabinet Committees

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make it his policy that the Cabinet Committee on Flooding should meet at least three times a year.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich, East (Mr. Watson) the then Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office gave to her on 23 March 2009,  Official Report, columns 50-51W.
	This answer stated that it is established practice that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including exactly when and how often they are to meet, is not disclosed.

Floods: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number and proportion of buildings on Canvey Island which  (a) are not flood-resistant and  (b) are flood resilient.

Huw Irranca-Davies: No estimate has been made of the number of properties on Canvey Island that are flood resistant or resilient. However, the Environment Agency spent over 4 million in 2006 to improve the drainage of the island and address fluvial flooding issues.

Floods: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the number and proportion of buildings in Peterborough which  (a) are not flood-resistant and  (b) are flood resilient.

Huw Irranca-Davies: DEFRA has made no estimate of the number of properties in Peterborough that are, or are not flood resistant or resilient.
	We are considering how a realistic national estimate can be effectively and economically achieved using information sourced locally. The route for providing the appropriate information for such an estimate will be clearer after the passage of the Flood and Water Management Bill through Parliament.

Forests

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of land in England is  (a) woodland and  (b) covered by peat.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The provisional figure published in June this year for woodland is 1.128 million hectares or 9 per cent. of England's land area.
	It is estimated that 3-4 per cent. of England's land area is covered by peat soils. This figure refers to substantial peat deposits of at least 40cm in depth. This estimate excludes small pockets of peat in areas that are mapped as part of other soil types.

Livestock

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his assessment is of the cost to farmers of livestock rustling in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Comprehensive figures on livestock rustling are not held centrally therefore we have made no assessment of the cost incurred to farmers. Such offences would come under Home Office classification 49 'Other theft or unauthorised taking' and cannot be separately identified from other offences recorded under that classification.
	However, the Cattle Tracing System shows the following numbers of cattle have been reported to British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) as stolen:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007 7,175 
			 2008 5,553 
			 2009 4,047 
			  Source: Figures provided by the BCMS.

Marine and Coastal Access Bill

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what forecast he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of the inshore fisheries and conservation authorities proposed under the Marine and Coastal Access Bill.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Over 2009-11, one-off costs related to implementation of the reform package will be made available. This will be in the region of 1.6 million based on current estimates. In addition, the establishment of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs) will result in an estimated additional financial burden on constituent local authorities of approximately 5 million per year. This will include expenditure on:
	(i) effective management of estuarine and coastal areas that have previously been subject to low intervention;
	(ii) enhanced byelaw making procedures, including improved evidence-based decision making and consultation on impact assessments;
	(iii) increased monitoring, inspection and enforcement (including more enforcement officers); and
	(iv) improved staff training and development.
	A consultation setting out options for establishing future IFC district boundaries and the local authorities that will fall within the districts closed on 22 April and the Government intend to publish its response this summer. The outcome of the consultation will help inform what changes need to be made and their associated costs. Officials will work closely with Sea Fisheries Committees and local authorities to quantify the changes necessary.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he plans to respond to the letters from the hon. Member for Billericay of 6 April and 7 May 2009 regarding his constituent Fran Smith.

Dan Norris: The hon. Member for Billericay's letters of 6 April and 7 May regarding his constituent Fran Smith were replied to by my right hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool, Wavertree (Jane Kennedy) on 10 May.

Ministers: Working Hours

John Gummer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many hours he spent on his ministerial duties in the seven-day period beginning Sunday 7 June 2009.

Dan Norris: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) had a full diary of official duties.

River Humber

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the likely effect on levels of greenhouse gas emissions of the designation of the River Humber as a sensitive area under the EU urban waste water treatment directive; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Yorkshire Water estimates (based on United Kingdom Water Industry Research Limited, Greenhouse Gas workbook) that designation will increase carbon dioxide equivalents by 380 kilotonnes during construction and 125 kilotonnes per year through operations.
	Severn Trent Water estimates an increase of between 100 and 150 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide per year, a 20 to 30 per cent. increase on current emissions. Additional emissions from Anglian Water will be much smaller.

River Humber

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the costs which would be incurred if the River Humber were to be designated as a sensitive area under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: If the UK was required to designate the Humber as sensitive to eutrophication, industry has estimated the capital cost of additional treatment to be approximately 900 million, with operating costs of approximately 50 million a year.

Rural Payments Agency: Complaints

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many complaints in relation to the processing of claims by the Rural Payments Agency his Department has received in  (a) 2007,  (b) 2008 and  (c) 2009 .

Jim Fitzpatrick: holding answer 24 June 2009
	The following table sets out how many complaints in respect of the single payment scheme have been dealt with by the Rural Payments Agency for the last three years.
	
		
			  Financial year  Number 
			 2006-07 2,569 
			 2007-08 1,149 
			 2008-09 942 
			  Note: 1. Financial years cover the period 1 April to 31 March.  2. The figures for 2008-09 are subject to confirmation in the annual Exchequer audit.

Sheep

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 June 2009,  Official Report, column 96W, on sheep, what estimate has been made of the number of sheep in each county in England in each year since 1997.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The total number of sheep and lambs in England by county/unitary authority in each year since 1997 are shown in the following tables.
	Figures for 1999 onwards can also be found on the DEFRA website at:
	www.defra.gov.uk/esg/work_htm/publications/cs/farmstats_web/2_SURVEY_DATA_SEARCH/COMPLETE_DATASETS/regional_level_datasets.htm
	
		
			  Table 1: Total sheep and lambs by county/unitary authority, 1997 to 2002 
			  County/UA  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 23,436 24,468 24,015 21,907 18,619 16,481 
			 South Teesside 27,715 30,228 30,708 29,314 27,861 23,118 
			 Darlington 30,449 30,252 31,797 29,944 20,226 18,075 
			 Durham CC 678,435 685,483 689,716 650,712 500,085 522,161 
			 Northumberland 1,664,446 1,680,887 1,719,011 1,642,218 1,395,748 1,343,874 
			 Tyneside 10,023 10,862 10,750 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Sunderland (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 West Cumbria 716,598 746,378 733,959 705,904 368,594 488,592 
			 East Cumbria 1,975,625 2,061,168 2,041,301 1,928,069 1,130,470 1,313,197 
			 Halton and Warrington 3,624 3,488 4,152 4,669 4,457 4,040 
			 Cheshire CC 205,653 214,103 215,542 203,685 194,710 177,920 
			 Greater Manchester South 16,813 16,822 16,442 20,349 19,772 17,178 
			 Greater Manchester North 56,745 53,704 57,903 51,454 54,129 49,010 
			 Blackburn With Darwen 20,036 21,173 21,229 21,230 17,342 16,925 
			 Blackpool (1) (1) 0 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Lancashire CC 788,668 823,332 800,283 776,586 703,264 656,886 
			 East Merseyside 6,399 6,923 7,430 6,061 6,452 6,336 
			 Liverpool (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Sefton 334 659 417 (1) (1) 249 
			 Wirral 1,504 1,442 1,639 1,528 1,506 (1) 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of (1) (1) (1) (1) 1 (1) 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 121,399 115,301 114,603 110,654 105,164 91,389 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 12,614 12,990 14,269 12,591 13,085 11,873 
			 York 13,836 14,467 14,721 (1) (1) (1) 
			 North Yorkshire CC 2,082,611 2,145,678 2,160,335 2,077,156 1,793,702 1,675,339 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 50,370 51,263 55,386 52,214 47,882 41,496 
			 Sheffield 36,273 39,669 30,172 31,464 35,243 35,210 
			 Bradford 74,334 80,623 75,983 76,204 73,352 70,360 
			 Leeds 51,544 51,709 50,187 46,567 44,880 38,615 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 111,848 117,944 117,051 109,134 105,569 107,925 
			 Derby (1) (1) (1) 28,563 (1) (1) 
			 East Derbyshire 27,584 29,113 30,056 1 25,663 21,540 
			 South and West Derbyshire 429,662 459,537 459,847 438,425 420,812 377,670 
			 Nottingham 0 0 0 (1) (1) (1) 
			 North Nottinghamshire 53,816 49,482 57,508 58,313 49,441 46,320 
			 South Nottinghamshire 32,238 32,401 28,265 27,575 (1) (1) 
			 Leicester 0 0 0 0 (1) (1) 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 411,401 427,810 434,168 390,411 374,035 340,160 
			 Northamptonshire 398,006 411,666 418,480 406,457 387,762 329,594 
			 Lincolnshire 218,252 225,666 233,901 206,494 191,988 169,317 
			 Herefordshire, County of 807,253 845,061 851,417 799,820 664,610 644,216 
			 Worcestershire 378,186 393,374 395,697 377,145 336,362 309,974 
			 Warwickshire 328,798 355,204 361,938 358,192 339,797 301,609 
			 Telford and Wrekin 9,705 10,848 10,773 11,273 11,492 9,970 
			 Shropshire CC 923,438 958,173 979,024 909,128 836,216 762,901 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 502 685 883 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Staffordshire CC 297,542 308,388 322,042 305,150 276,732 259,300 
			 Birmingham 1,025 (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Solihull 16,627 17,438 17,215 17,760 11,314 13,726 
			 Coventry 1,813 2,925 2,816 2,589 2,552 2,422 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 1,168 1,208 1,277 1,147 855 793 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 1,031 1,092 1,243 683 542 553 
			 Peterborough 9,445 12,265 11,141 49,135 10,548 8,728 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 43,557 42,455 44,401 11,129 47,262 34,548 
			 Norfolk 145,746 144,935 149,276 144,307 136,367 106,114 
			 Suffolk 68,421 76,199 74,317 82,795 72,985 77,229 
			 Luton (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Bedfordshire CC 58,147 58,034 61,168 56,409 53,482 45,018 
			 Hertfordshire 43,606 44,219 42,750 38,143 40,739 32,687 
			 Southend-on-Sea 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Thurrock 2,749 2,811 2,870 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Essex CC 74,066 67,556 70,067 66,014 59,455 56,122 
			 Inner London: West 0 0 0 0 65,970 1 
			 Inner London: East (1) (1) (1) (1) 21,281 45 
			 Outer London: East and North East 1,696 1,519 1,683 (1) 204,408 (1) 
			 Outer London: South 387 577 907 649 194,395 746 
			 Outer London: West and North West 888 1,926 1,939 1,699 (1) 848 
			 Berkshire 60,837 71,968 75,616 70,196 291,072 58,114 
			 Milton Keynes 29,565 27,385 28,528 26,025 75,887 21,576 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 186,506 199,017 220,705 208,804 114,130 180,258 
			 Oxfordshire 208,953 218,569 219,270 211,197 (1) 172,395 
			 Brighton and Hove (1) (1) (1) (1) 151 3,554 
			 East Sussex CC 279,868 289,435 302,772 299,664 145,891 271,572 
			 Surrey 76,210 75,395 76,708 80,907 33,096 64,931 
			 West Sussex 140,226 138,258 127,124 121,364 (1) 102,861 
			 Portsmouth (1) (1) (1) (1) 451,145 (1) 
			 Southampton (1) 149 162 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Hampshire CC 161,303 160,422 156,850 154,421 (1) 129,661 
			 Isle of Wight 36,568 38,784 38,715 35,083 (1) 30,738 
			 Medway 8,416 7,737 7,920 7,949 854 9,594 
			 Kent CC 514,911 511,487 508,048 491,865 1,230 383,725 
			 Bristol, City of 416 427 419 (1) 1,232 (1) 
			 N and NE Somerset, South Glos 100,105 102,743 98,295 98,595 95,202 84,217 
			 Gloucestershire 403,875 414,686 425,662 418,837 334,173 329,925 
			 Swindon 16,683 15,814 13,121 13,360 11,699 6,960 
			 Wiltshire CC 203,393 194,027 203,037 199,164 193,195 171,851 
			 Bournemouth and Poole (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Dorset CC 209,155 221,225 226,936 219,057 200,171 176,598 
			 Somerset 572,797 590,196 605,745 583,969 551,959 490,772 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 601,534 631,841 639,631 607,512 575,228 521,136 
			 Plymouth 3,802 2,891 2,721 2,657 (1) (1) 
			 Torbay 4,287 2,794 2,944 3,945 2,151 (1) 
			 Devon CC 1,828,808 1,921,261 1,937,405 1,817,687 1,472,395 1,445,962 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Total sheep and lambs by county/unitary authority, 2003 - 08 
			  County/UA  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees 17,181 17,079 16,266 14,772 16,019 15,136 
			 South Teesside 23,412 19,538 20,828 18,577 21,348 20,404 
			 Darlington 18,415 18,375 16,794 15,315 15,892 16,118 
			 Durham CC 543,114 561,614 562,817 544,838 544,976 542,014 
			 Northumberland 1,350,851 1,356,865 1,351,097 1,336,393 1,328,927 1,340,250 
			 Tyneside (1) 7,686 (1) (1) 7,599 8,298 
			 Sunderland (1) (1) (1) (1) 370 223 
			 West Cumbria 513,535 546,115 538,031 544,865 533,002 538,986 
			 East Cumbria 1,437,605 1,480,984 1,511,508 1,495,375 1,474,746 1,490,758 
			 Halton and Warrington 4,100 4,026 4,506 3,868 3,063 2,690 
			 Cheshire CC 184,408 188,539 188,569 186,184 186,467 198,302 
			 Greater Manchester South 18,401 19,661 17,467 17,261 16,581 18,550 
			 Greater Manchester North 49,784 52,712 50,789 52,801 45,342 48,021 
			 Blackburn With Darwen 18,003 18,432 15,644 16,437 16,657 17,283 
			 Blackpool (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Lancashire CC 659,433 679,395 703,846 694,142 685,783 686,631 
			 East Merseyside 6,481 6,296 6,738 6,937 7,130 7,070 
			 Liverpool (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Sefton (1) 287 297 (1) (1) (1) 
			 Wirral 740 775 867 880 852 1,303 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 85,921 83,908 85,716 92,890 87,934 87,745 
			 North and North East Lincolnshire 11,608 11,306 10,790 10,685 10,904 11,275 
			 York (1) 9,512 (1) (1) 11,970 (1) 
			 North Yorkshire CC 1,746,518 1,792,219 1,817,514 1,772,569 1,761,878 1,776,955 
			 Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham 43,752 45,145 44,483 44,634 46,268 49,165 
			 Sheffield 36,904 37,291 39,280 34,133 (1) 34,854 
			 Bradford 74,406 77,306 73,955 71,685 71,225 73,623 
			 Leeds 38,736 37,777 38,292 35,738 34,711 36,428 
			 Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield 104,206 104,220 106,405 109,051 103,087 106,579 
			 Derby (1) 146 162 (1) (1) (1) 
			 East Derbyshire 19,741 19,912 20,816 19,192 19,082 19,572 
			 South and West Derbyshire 377,371 389,246 397,190 392,489 386,963 384,459 
			 Nottingham (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 North Nottinghamshire 46,096 44,750 44,891 45,463 45,318 42,205 
			 South Nottinghamshire (1) 27,683 28,043 31,879 29,149 32,151 
			 Leicester (1) (1) (1) 0 (1) (1) 
			 Leicestershire CC and Rutland 344,400 336,798 330,010 314,214 309,641 304,652 
			 Northamptonshire 331,450 317,372 304,738 295,531 289,253 285,314 
			 Lincolnshire 162,186 159,071 152,800 155,469 155,447 151,186 
			 Herefordshire, County of 654,222 655,951 657,876 665,515 636,598 624,204 
			 Worcestershire 316,360 317,322 311,682 306,347 299,643 297,691 
			 Warwickshire 289,604 290,043 288,812 274,989 277,491 282,537 
			 Telford and Wrekin 10,365 10,762 11,286 10,891 9,499 11,030 
			 Shropshire CC 776,561 778,932 795,591 770,107 762,860 761,313 
			 Stoke-on-Trent (1) 455 (1) 700 (1) 811 
			 Staffordshire CC 263,551 267,828 272,269 263,079 267,461 268,627 
			 Birmingham (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Solihull 13,488 12,584 13,108 15,339 13,171 12,800 
			 Coventry 1,927 2,147 1,751 1,859 1,824 2,072 
			 Dudley and Sandwell 823 834 878 786 820 840 
			 Walsall and Wolverhampton 458 429 915 (1) 205 (1) 
			 Peterborough 6,918 7,299 7,464 6,034 5,645 5,419 
			 Cambridgeshire CC 32,145 32,197 30,372 30,175 31,157 31,288 
			 Norfolk 98,546 100,167 104,691 109,321 114,136 114,032 
			 Suffolk 79,793 74,755 72,359 68,830 80,460 77,864 
			 Luton (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Bedfordshire CC 39,227 37,922 36,697 34,937 34,340 40,017 
			 Hertfordshire 34,033 33,810 35,759 39,041 32,758 35,183 
			 Southend-on-Sea (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Thurrock 1,060 1,054 (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Essex CC 54,796 56,358 57,143 53,541 55,104 54,863 
			 Inner London: West (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Inner London: East (1) 53 (1) (1) 93 128 
			 Outer London: East and North East (1) 1,458 (1) 1,473 1,428 1,487 
			 Outer London: South 803 863 884 735 2,744 1,150 
			 Outer London: West and North West 745 617 (1) (1) 516 518 
			 Berkshire 56,680 55,915 57,275 60,383 51,349 47,603 
			 Milton Keynes 21,644 20,470 18,749 17,663 17,737 17,664 
			 Buckinghamshire CC 177,777 173,111 170,289 160,366 161,477 166,250 
			 Oxfordshire 164,954 165,511 160,022 157,833 159,525 163,917 
			 Brighton and Hove (1) 2,503 3,458 (1) 8,920 9,683 
			 East Sussex CC 271,932 265,493 263,694 264,210 250,940 252,433 
			 Surrey 66,098 67,010 63,769 63,259 63,200 62,781 
			 West Sussex 102,798 99,265 97,649 101,187 100,904 103,303 
			 Portsmouth (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Southampton 149 58 (1) (1) (1) (1) 
			 Hampshire CC 128,871 130,219 125,318 120,259 123,763 129,413 
			 Isle of Wight 35,042 34,479 37,269 35,677 33,442 36,855 
			 Medway 9,626 9,413 8,649 4,760 7,541 8,533 
			 Kent CC 388,783 383,489 376,158 371,318 362,698 360,954 
			 Bristol, City of 740 726 814 734 872 891 
			 N and NE Somerset, South Glos 81,667 80,452 79,380 81,308 77,263 84,286 
			 Gloucestershire 335,715 337,669 330,676 341,515 331,053 322,714 
			 Swindon 6,394 6,098 6,343 6,212 3,550 4,198 
			 Wiltshire CC 175,860 178,264 175,734 166,258 164,536 174,961 
			 Bournemouth and Poole 402 423 1,714 1,869 1,564 1,885 
			 Dorset CC 187,750 186,889 185,437 193,455 191,232 198,080 
			 Somerset 494,854 506,873 495,195 474,258 487,253 489,416 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 525,057 527,466 519,812 521,033 501,658 503,374 
			 Plymouth 759 813 697 1,235 640 734 
			 Torbay 2,505 2,608 2,831 3,272 3,144 2,712 
			 Devon CC 1,474,609 1,481,181 1,474,328 1,465,263 1,399,574 1,402,422 
			 (1) Suppressed to prevent disclosure of information about individual holdings.  Source: June Agricultural Survey.

Waste Disposal: Private Finance Initiative

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the use of private finance initiative funding for waste disposal projects in circumstances where the local authority has opted not to use incineration as a waste disposal method.

Dan Norris: DEFRA's policy is not prescriptive in relation to the disposal technology procured by an authority using private finance initiative (PFI) funding. DEFRA does however insist that a thorough appraisal of the options is performed and documented as part of the Outline Business Case (OBC). The technology selected for the OBC forms the basis of the OBC costings but does not determine the choice of technology which is ultimately selected in the procurement stage. Hence PFI credit support is not tied to any type of technology and is available to projects both with and without combustion as part of their waste management solution.
	Any new infrastructure proposals should not be at the expense of reduction, reuse and recycling of waste.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Children

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to  (a) identify viable alternatives to child labour and  (b) improve children's working conditions in the mining industry in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: Viable alternatives to child labour in Afghanistan include raising family incomes and increasing the availability of primary and secondary education. The Department for International Development (DFID) is helping raise family incomes by spending over 180 million on economic development over the next four years (nationally and in Helmand province). DFID's support for schooling comprises a 225 million contribution to the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF) over the next four years.
	Afghanistan has now signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises the right of the child to be:
	'protected from economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.'
	Afghanistan's responsibilities under this Convention are monitored by the Afghanistan Independent Human Right Commission, support for which is provided by a number of other donors. The Government of Afghanistan has also recently launched a programme that will help identify unlicensed mining operations and enforce safer mining practices.

Africa: Females

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to assist women and girls in Africa whose employment and education is jeopardised by the recession.

Gareth Thomas: The UK's strategy for helping poor countries respond to the impact of the recession includes mobilising additional external resources, especially from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions. An extra $50 billion of concessional resources for low-income countries was committed at the London summit in April. The IMF has increased concessional funds to crisis affected countries, helping partner governments to maintain funding of social programmes.
	The UK has committed 200 million to a new vulnerability fund, managed by the World Bank, which will scale up social protection. Women and other vulnerable groups are explicitly targeted in many Department for International Development programmes and we have stepped up our bilateral support for social protection. In 2007-08, DFID spent 45 million on social protection in Africa, an increase from 35 million in 2006-07.

Burma: Armed Conflict

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment has been made of the number of people who have moved from Burma to Thailand as a result of the renewed military action in the eastern part of that country; and whether such people have access to humanitarian assistance.

Michael Foster: Latest estimates from the government of Thailand, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) suggest that about 3,000 people have recently entered Thailand to escape fighting in eastern Burma.
	Humanitarian assistance for the refugees is being provided by the Thai authorities, UNHCR, the Thailand Burma Border Consortium (TBBC) and other NGOs. This assistance includes food, plastic sheeting for shelter, blankets, bed-nets and medical care. The Thai authorities are co-ordinating with UNHCR, TBBC and other NGOs on a medium-term plan for caring for the new refugees.
	DFID plans to provide about 7.4 million over the next three years to support Burmese refugees in Thailand and internally displaced people inside Burma. This funding includes 1.1 million for TBBC this financial year.

Burma: Overseas Aid

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department has taken to provide famine relief in Chin state, Western Burma in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: In September 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) approved a grant of 600,000 for emergency aid for people in Chin State suffering from food shortages as a result of rat infestations. In March this year, we increased our funding to 880,000 in response to further needs assessments. The aid is delivered through the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme and their local partners. About 65,000 people have now benefited from it. We continue to keep the situation under close review. We are also considering, in consultation with the United Nations and other donors, how best to address longer-term food security needs in Chin State and other parts of Burma.

Cambodia: Overseas Aid

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of Government corruption on the effectiveness of UK aid to Cambodia.

Michael Foster: Government corruption does not have a significant impact on the effectiveness of UK aid to Cambodia. When designing programmes the Department for International Development (DFID) works closely with the Cambodian Government and other development partners to mitigate against this risk and monitor progress throughout implementation. We also provide support to a joint programme to reform the management of public finances, which continues to make good progress in improving the Cambodian Government's financial systems.
	Only 8 per cent. of UK assistance to Cambodia was channelled directly through government systems in 2008. For this, we also designed additional safeguards to ensure UK aid was used effectively, including additional reporting by government on the use of funds. A recent independent country programme evaluation concluded that DFID had made a significant contribution to development in Cambodia.

Departmental Drinking Water

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on bottled water in each of the last six months.

Michael Foster: Since January 2008, the Department for International Development no longer purchases bottled mineral water as a matter of course, but instead uses bottled filtered mains water that is prepared on site. This change was made on the grounds of economy and environmental benefits.

Departmental Flags

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many flags his Department owns; and how much has been spent on maintaining flags owned by his Department in the last 12 months.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not incurred expenditure on the maintenance of flags in the last 12 months.
	Information on flags held by overseas offices is not held centrally and could not be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental Official Cars

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department spent on  (a) buying and  (b) renting cars in the last financial year for which records are available.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) does not hold a central record of expenditure on buying and renting cars. Compiling this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Development Aid

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of UK overseas development aid on the level of Government corruption in natural resource exporting countries which receive that aid; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) assesses the risk and impact of corruption as part of its country planning process through Fiduciary Risk Assessments and the mandatory Country Governance Analysis (CGA). Recent CGA's have shown positive trends on corruption in a number of natural resource exporting countries where DFID provides support.
	For example at the international level, the UK has led on the development of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which requires participating companies in the extractives sector to publish what they pay and governments to publish what they receive in revenues. 28 countries are implementing the EITI and 11 countries have so far produced one or more EITI reports. This represents important progress in the transparency and anti-corruption agendas in natural resource exporting countries. Further information on the EITI can be found on the DFID website:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Global-Issues/Working-to-make-Global-Aid-more-effective/International-Aid-Transparency-Initiative/

Development Aid

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of Government corruption on the effectiveness of UK overseas development aid to developing countries;

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) undertakes Fiduciary Risk Assessments (FRAs) in all countries to which DFID is providing, or considering providing, financial aid. These include an explicit assessment of the risk of corruption, the strength of Government financial management systems and the potential effect of the on all Government expenditure including UK aid.
	All FRAs are subject to an external independent scrutiny and are updated through annual statements of progress.

Pakistan: International Assistance

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the shortfall in financial assistance for the UN appeal for internally displaced persons from Swat and other parts of Malakand in north west Pakistan; and what plans his Department has for the provision of further assistance to the appeal.

Michael Foster: There have been regular discussions between members of the Cabinet, including the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for International Development, and the Government of Pakistan, on the needs of those displaced by conflict in Pakistan. The Prime Minister has also spoken with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Minister of State for International Development, my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow, West (Mr. Thomas), recently met with John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
	The Department for International Development (DFID) and UK embassies have been lobbying international donors, including the European Commission, to increase their contribution to the response to the humanitarian emergency in North West Pakistan. Funding for the appeal has been increasing and currently stands at 35.5 per cent. We have so far provided 22 million of humanitarian aid, including 12.5 million in support of the UN's appeal. This is the second largest bilateral contribution to the humanitarian effort. We will continue to monitor the humanitarian situation and funding position, and will consider additional funding if needed.

Pakistan: Overseas Aid

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to aid refugees from the Swat valley living in camps or ad hoc accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) has so far made available 22 million of humanitarian aid for those people who have been displaced by conflict in Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas and north west frontier province, including the Swat valley. 12.5 million of this has been allocated to support the UN co-ordinated Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan and 9 million has been allocated to the International Committee for the Red Cross. The remainder of our funding is being used to support a local non governmental organisation working with the displaced and to help the overall coordination of the humanitarian effort.
	An estimated total of 2.4 million people have been displaced, of which about 200,000 are living in camps and the rest with host communities. DFID's funding is providing food, shelter, water and sanitation, healthcare and protection for the most vulnerable. DFID is also making contributions to the funding that is being provided by the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund and by the European Commission.

Sri Lanka: Children

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to aid children injured or displaced during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: Since September 2008, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated 12.5 million of humanitarian assistance to NGOs and UN agencies operating in Sri Lanka. This is providing a wide range of life saving activities including child protection activities, emergency surgery and post-operative follow-up care for war wounded civilians, many of them children.
	The UK Government also contribute to UNICEF's work to protect child rights in Sri Lanka. UNICEF monitors instances of child recruitment, works to secure the release of child soldiers and runs a rehabilitation centre for former child combatants.

Uganda: Maternity Services

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to improve the survival rate of mothers during childbirth in northern Uganda; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development (DFID) is working with the Ugandan Government to improve access to good quality health services, including family planning, throughout the country. Our budget support is being used to raise the performance of the Ugandan health system and ensure health workers are well trained and adequately resourced with drugs and supplies.
	Over half of the 100 million DFID has programmed for recovery in northern Uganda is targeted at improving the quality of services in conflict affected districts. The programme will help to ensure that good quality maternal health care services are established in these districts of northern Uganda.

CABINET OFFICE

Age

Tim Farron: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the average age of the population in each district in each year since 1997.

Angela Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2009:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what estimate has been made of the average age of the population in each district in each year since 1997. (281982)
	Table 1 shows the median age of the resident population in each local authority district in the UK for the years 1997 to 2007. These figures are based on the mid-year population estimates and mid-2007 is the latest year for which data are available.
	A copy of the table will be placed in the Library of the House.

Carbon Emissions: Departmental Coordination

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 10 February 2009,  Official Report, column 1847W, on carbon emissions, what cross-departmental co-operation her Department is supporting.

Angela Smith: The Department for Energy and Climate Change is responsible for the formulation of Government policy on addressing carbon emissions.
	The Cabinet Office's role is to support the co-ordination of Government policy. It does so by supporting Cabinet and Cabinet Committee system, which provides a framework for the collective consideration of, and decisions on, major policy issues and questions of significant public interest.
	Information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet Committees, including when and how often they meet, is generally not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Lord Paul of Marylebone

Graham Stuart: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether Lord Paul of Marylebone has a security pass for 10 Downing Street; and if she will make a statement.

Angela Smith: No.

Public Sector: Pay

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if she will take steps to ensure that all increases in senior executive pay in the public sector are below the rate of inflation.

Liam Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
	Government policy is that all public sector pay settlements should reflect the individual labour market position of each work force, particularly their recruitment and retention position; be consistent with achievement of the Bank of England's CPI inflation target of 2 per cent.; be affordable for Departments and; represent value for money for taxpayers.
	Senior staff have an important role to play in showing leadership in exercising pay restraint. In March 2009, the Government announced that pay awards for senior public sector groups for 2009-10 would be limited to 1.5 per cent. This covers senior civil servants, judges, very senior managers in the NHS and chief executives of non-departmental public bodies.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Schools: Sports

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when he expects the results of the School Sport Survey for 2008-09 to be published.

Iain Wright: The 2008-09 School Sport Survey is expected to be published in the early autumn.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Community Development

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which proposals in his Department's White Paper, Communities in control: real people, real power are not planned to be implemented.

Rosie Winterton: The White Paper Communities in Control was published in July 2008. We currently do not have plans to take forward a number of minor proposals from the White Paper, namely on remote attendance and voting by councillors, payments for councillors on loss of office, and incentives to vote in local elections.
	On June 1 2009 we published the Communities Progress Report which recorded the substantial progress achieved in the implementation of Communities in Control. We will continue to review the implementation programme for the White Paper as it develops.

Demos

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what  (a) private meetings and  (b) public engagements Ministers in his Department have attended at which representatives from the think-tank Demos were present in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Shahid Malik: Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Departmental Billing

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many days on average  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies has taken to pay invoices from suppliers in each month since November 2008.

Shahid Malik: The average time in days taken to pay suppliers by the Department in each month since November 2008 is as follows:
	
		
			(b) Agency 
			   (a) DepartmentCLG (including GOs)  Planning Inspectorate  Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre  Fire Service College 
			 November 2008 9 12 21 25 
			 December 2008 7 14 21 23 
			 January 2009 7 12 19 25 
			 February 2009 7 7 17 25 
			 March 2009 8 7 17 25 
			 April 2009 9 7 17 23 
			 May 2009 6 8 17 26

Departmental Billing

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 18 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1192W, on departmental billing, how much his Department's non-departmental public bodies paid in interest under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 in the last three years.

Shahid Malik: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions from offices in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government produced the following quantities of carbon dioxide emissions in 2006-7 and 2007-8:
	
		
			  Com munities and Local Government Central Offices 
			   Total carbon dioxide (tonnes)  Total carbon dioxide per FTE (tonnes) 
			  2006-07 8,613 2.3 
			  2007-08 6,998 2.5

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from road-based transport of administrative operations by his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government generated the following quantities of carbon dioxide from road-based transport through administrative operations in 2006-07 and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			  Communities and local Governmentcentral offices  2006- 07  2007 - 08 
			 Carbon dioxide 252 211 
			 Carbon dioxide per FTE 0.10 0.08

Departmental Carbon Emissions

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the volume of carbon dioxide emissions arising from air travel by staff in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government generated the following quantities of carbon dioxide arising from air travel in 2006-07 and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			  Communities and local Government central offices  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Carbon dioxide 233 236 
			 Carbon dioxide per FTE 0.06 0.09

Departmental Electricity

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the percentage of electricity used by his Department which was derived from renewable sources in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government derived the following amounts of electricity from renewable sources between 2006 and 2008:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			  Communities and local Governmentcentral offices  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Renewable electricity 92 91 
		
	
	The Department obtains its renewable energy through the office of Government commerce's green tariff energy contract.

Departmental Energy

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the energy consumed per full-time equivalent member of staff in his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government consumed the following quantities of energy per full-time equivalent member of staff in 2006-07 and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Communities and Local Government - Central Offices  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Electricity per FTE (kWh) 3,510 3,924 
			 Gas per FTE (kWh) 2,364 2,289 
			 Total energy per FTE (kWh) 5,874 6,213

Departmental Waste

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the amount of waste arising from his Department in  (a) 2006-07 and  (b) 2007-08 (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Shahid Malik: Communities and Local Government generated the following quantities of waste in 2006-07 and 2007-08:
	
		
			  Tonnes 
			  Communities and local Governmentcentral offices  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Total waste 461 624 
			 Total waste per FTE 0.12 0.23

Departmental Water

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the water consumption on his Department's office estate in  (a) 2005-06 and  (b) 2006-07, (i) in total and (ii) per full-time equivalent member of staff.

Shahid Malik: The Department for Communities and Local Government used the following quantities of water in 2005-06 and 2006-07:
	
		
			  Communities and Local GovernmentCentral Offices 
			   Total water consumption (m( 3) )  Water consumption per FTE (m( 3) ) 
			  2005-06 17,767 18,292 
			  2006-07 5.4 4.9

Eco-towns

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the responses received relating to the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) stage one financial viability study of the eco-towns programme have been passed to the PwC team; and what provision there is for earlier comments to be taken into account during stage two of the study.

John Healey: Alongside the final eco-towns planning policy statement, we will publish a Government response to the eco-towns consultation and a summary report of responses received, including those on the Financial Viability Study of the Eco-towns Programme.
	Stage 2 of the work undertaken by our external advisers is a separate piece of work to look at generic delivery issues for eco-towns as proposals are pursued.

Empty Housing: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his most recent estimate is of the number of empty dwellings in Milton Keynes.

Ian Austin: In October 2008, Milton Keynes council reported there were 2,290 empty dwellings in their area.

Fires: Smoking

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effect of trends in levels of smoking in domestic premises on trends in the number of domestic fires since 1988.

Shahid Malik: Research has been commissioned into factors that relate to the incidence of fires and deaths in dwellings. This research, undertaken in early spring 2009, found that statistically smoking is one of a number of factors associated with the fall in dwelling fire deaths. The research will published in the autumn.

Housing: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding has been allocated by the Homes and Communities Agency to each local authority in each of the next two years.

John Healey: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing: Finance

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding each local authority has received from the Homes and Communities Agency since its establishment.

John Healey: Information on Homes and Communities Agency expenditure including by local authority area, will be published in the Agency's annual report and accounts later this year.

Housing: Low Incomes

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people in each local authority area registered with HomeBuy agents in each of the last three years.

Ian Austin: The information is not collected centrally.

Local Government: Termination of Employment

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what dates the monitoring group established under the Local Government (Early Termination of Employment) (Discretionary Compensation) (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 has met; whether minutes of the meetings of that group are published; and what the names of the members of that group are.

Rosie Winterton: The Compensation Regulations Monitoring Group met on four occasions, 21 December 2006; 1 March 2007; 19 April 2007; and 18 June 2007. The minutes of meetings were not published. The group is chaired by an official from Communities and Local Government and membership of the group is made up of representatives from the Local Government Employers Organisation, the Public Sector People's Managers Association, Unison, Unite the Union, GMB and the TUC.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many people have  (a) applied for and  (b) been refused assistance through the Mortgage Rescue Scheme in (i) England and (ii) Milton Keynes in each month since the Scheme's inception.

John Healey: The mortgage rescue scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January-April 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government office region, are available on the Department's website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics
	Figures reported by local authorities from January to April 2009 are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.
	In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage: from free debt advice when problems start, to free support for cases that reach court. Advice is available to all households struggling with their mortgage, with targeted schemes for those in most need.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of people who will be assisted by the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme in  (a) Peterborough and  (b) England in the next 12 months.

John Healey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave my hon. Friend for Tamworth (Mr. Jenkins) on 24 June 2009,  Official Report, column 691W.

Non-Domestic Rates: Cambridgeshire

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate he has made of the number of businesses in  (a) Peterborough and  (b) Cambridgeshire which qualify for small business rate relief and do not claim it.

Rosie Winterton: We have not made an estimate of the number of businesses in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire which qualify for small business rate relief but do not claim it.

Police: Council Tax

David Wilshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date his Department first informed Surrey Police Authority that it intended to use  (a) a 2008-09 notional budget requirement and  (b) a 2008-09 notional Band D council tax rate when deciding whether to cap Surrey Police Authority's precept.

Rosie Winterton: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry) on 16 June 2009,  Official Report, column 210W.

Regional Planning and Development: Finance

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the role of  (a) regional planning bodies and  (b) regional development agencies is regarding decisions on regional funding allocations.

Rosie Winterton: Each English region outside London provides regional funding advice to Ministers. The advice is based on work led by the regional development agency and regional assembly (or leaders' board, where such a body has replaced the assembly), supported by the Government office. However, final decisions on regional funding allocations are a matter for Ministers.

Regional Planning and Development: Transport

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirement there is for regional planning bodies to develop regional transport strategies.

Ian Austin: All regional spatial strategies are required to include a regional transport strategy. Details are set out in planning policy statement 11: Regional Spatial Strategies.

Right to Buy Scheme

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on what date he expects to publish his Department's most recent figures on Right to Buy  (a) receipts,  (b) sales and  (c) levels of discount.

Ian Austin: The 2008-09 figures on right-to-buy sales, receipts and levels of discount will be published in a Statistical Release and in the Live Tables section of the CLG website in August 2009.
	The 2007-08 right-to-buy figures were released in the Live Tables section of the CLG website in August 2008 at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/housing/housingresearch/housingstatistics/housingstatisticsby/socialhousingsales/livetables/

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Carbon Sequestration: Algae

Andrew Pelling: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what his Department's policy is on the use of artificial measures to create algae bloom for the purposes of carbon capture; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I have been asked to reply.
	While the priorities for tackling climate change should continue to be overwhelmingly focussed on greenhouse gas emission reductions, and adaptation to unavoidable climate change, we should not rule out any climate change mitigation technologies at an early stage.
	Ocean fertilisation involves adding nutrients, usually iron, nitrogen or phosphorus compounds, to nutrient depleted areas of the open ocean, with the aim of increasing phytoplankton production to absorb additional amounts of carbon dioxide and storing a proportion of the additional carbon production below the surface layers of the ocean when the plankton dies. Further research into both the effectiveness of this practice as a carbon sequestration measure and the impact that this practice may have on the marine environment would be required before this technique is considered for use as a climate change mitigation technology.
	Any research into ocean fertilisation should follow the precautionary approach and comply with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the London Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter.

Coal Health Compensation Scheme

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the net present value of the Coal Health Compensation Scheme is; and if he will make a statement.

David Kidney: There are two Coal Health Compensation Schemes. The Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Scheme (COPD) and the Vibration White Finger Scheme (VWF). The Department received over 760,000 claims in total.
	The total amount paid in compensation to former miners and their families is 4 billion as at May 2009.
	This breaks down to 2.3 billion paid in compensation under the COPD Scheme and 1.7 billion under VWF Scheme.
	These values are actual compensation costs paid. The net present value is an accounting term which was not used to calculate the coal health compensation.

Energy: Billing

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what research his Department has  (a) evaluated and  (b) commissioned on the effect on progress towards energy consumption reduction targets of the structure of energy (i) bills and (ii) tariffs.

David Kidney: DECC considers analysis from a range of sources on factors affecting energy use, in order to inform policy development.
	DECC is co-funding the Energy Demand Research Project, which is enabling the Government, energy suppliers and others to test through a variety of interventions how electricity and gas customers respond to better information about their consumption. Interventions include smart metering, real-time display devices, additional billing information, energy efficiency information and community engagement, along with combinations of these interventions.
	Ofgem has recently held a public consultation on proposals for new obligations on suppliers relating to consumer information and engagement. We look forward to seeing Ofgem's further proposals in order to get the best results in terms of providing consumers with the information they need and can use.
	Ofgem is also undertaking exploratory work on potential interactions between tariff structures and the incentives for energy efficiency.

Energy: Prices

Howard Stoate: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps his Department is taking to encourage energy suppliers to simplify  (a) tariffs and  (b) bill format for domestic customers.

David Kidney: DECC firmly believes that tariff structures and information to consumers should be accessible and easier to understand, enabling consumers to make the right decisions about energy use, tariffs and suppliers.
	The regulator Ofgem has recently closed a public consultation on a number of proposals to improve the consumer energy supply markets, including proposals seeking to end confusion over tariffs, to improve information overall to consumers, and to give added protection to consumers when they switch supplier.
	We support Ofgem's work and look forward to seeing results from that process, in order to get the best results for consumers.

River Severn: Tidal Power

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how the review of tidal energy in the River Severn plans to take into account the views of people resident beside the river.

David Kidney: The Severn tidal power feasibility study will include two public consultations. The first of these was held earlier this year when my Department sought views on the scope of the work, including a recommended shortlist of schemes for further analysis. Details of public engagement were set out in the answer to PQ 2660. The Government response to this consultation will be published shortly on the DECC website.
	The second consultation will be held at the end of the feasibility study (probably in 2010) to seek views on whether Government should support a Severn tidal power scheme and if so on what terms. During this consultation, we plan to hold public meetings on both sides of the Severn estuary.
	Prior to this second consultation, we hope to be working with the Sciencewise Expert Resource Centre to hold a small scale public meeting for invited members of the public (particularly members of the public near the Severn estuary). This work is intended to provide a representative view on Severn tidal power at this point, the priority issues for people and how best to communicate information in the consultation. (Sciencewise-ERC supports public dialogue through funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills).
	We will also continue working with stakeholders (including representatives of local communities, such as local authorities and Members of Parliament) over the course of the feasibility study. There are a number of groups and events for stakeholders to participate in, as also described in the answer given to the hon. Member on 14 May 2009,  Official Report, column 957W, if they wish to contribute to evidence gathering and analysis. Information on these events and regular updates on progress are available on our website at:
	www.decc.gov.uk/severntidalpower

HEALTH

Chiropractic

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the implementation of the new National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines on access to chiropractice.

Mike O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guideline in question is for management of persistent non-specific lower back pain, for which a number of potential treatments are included in the recommendations. To aid implementation of this guideline, NICE has developed tools which offer advice on costings and commissioning, and these are available on their website alongside the main guideline at:
	http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG88

Departmental Food

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the  (a) meat,  (b) fruit and  (c) vegetables procured by his Department in the last 12 months was produced in the UK.

Phil Hope: The figures for 2008-09 are not yet available.
	The proportion of domestically produced food procured by the Department has gone up from 58.5 per cent., in 2006-07 to 74 per cent., in 2007-08.
	Quadrant Catering provides the staff restaurant and hospitality catering at the Department of Health sites in London and Eurest Services provides the same services to Department for Work and Pensions, which includes the Quarry House site in Leeds where some Department of Health employees are based. Both Quadrant Catering and Eurest Services are part of Compass Group UK and Ireland, one of the United Kingdom's largest contract caterers.
	Specific information about British products used within the Department of Health and Department for Work and Pensions contracts is listed as follows. This information was made publicly available in late 2008 and there will be another report produced towards the end of 2009.
	
		
			  Proportion of domestically produced food used (by value), i.e. indigenously produced , 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008 
			  Type  Percentage 
			 Bakerye.g. bread loaves and rolls (i.e. origin of ingredients used and not where baked) 100 
			   
			  Dairy  
			 Whole eggs (i.e. in shells) 100 
			 Fresh milk (e.g. whole, semi-skimmed, skimmed) 100 
			 Cheese 85 
			   
			  Vegetables, salads and fruit  
			 Ware potatoeswhole, unprepared 95 
			 Processed potatoesfor prepared both whole and cut 95 
			 Roots and onionse.g. carrots, parsnips, onions, turnips and swedes 95 
			 Brassicase.g. brussel sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. 64 
			 Legumese.g. beans (broad), beans (runner and dwarf), peas (green for market), peas (green for processing), peas (harvested dry) 50 
			 Protected vegetablese.g. tomatoes (round, vine, plum and cherry), tomatoes (cold), cucumbers, lettuce, celery, sweet peppers 25 
			 Other vegetablese.g. asparagus, celery, leeks, lettuce, watercress 51(1) 
			 Orchard fruite.g. dessert apples, culinary apples, pears, plums 51(1) 
			 Soft fruite.g. strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants 41(1) 
			   
			  Meat and poultry  
			 Poultry meat 100 
			 Beef and veal 85 
			 Mutton and lamb 60 
			 Bacon 0 
			 Pork 85 
			 Fish 40 
			 Overall percentage indigenous food 74 
			 Overall percentage indigenous food by value if available 75 
			 (1) Overall 
		
	
	Two reports have been published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments, and supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS supply chain and HM Prison Service, covering the years from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008, and the previous year. The latest report (November 2008) and the first one can be found at:
	www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm
	The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat, fruit and vegetable categories purchased. Although it is too early to demonstrate a trend, the latest report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. Data for the Department of Health were not included in these reports, but will be included in a third report that is expected to be published at the end of 2009.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many laptop computers belonging to  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years.

Phil Hope: The following table lists the numbers of laptops reported lost or stolen from the Department and its agencies, Medicines Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA).
	
		
			  Number 
			   Department of Health  MHRA  PASA  Total 
			 2004-05 23 0 0 23 
			 2005-06 18 0 0 18 
			 2006-07 11 0 0 11 
			 2007-08 14 0 0 14 
			 2008-09 34 2 0 36 
		
	
	All the missing departmental and MHRA laptops were encrypted so we have minimised the risk of exposure of sensitive or personal data.

Drugs: Patients

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether he has made an estimate of the number of off-label drug treatments  (a) provided and  (b) denied to patients in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We have made no such estimate.

General Practitioners

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department issues to primary care trusts on the application of premises criteria to the designation of general practice surgeries.

Mike O'Brien: Directions issued in 2004 contain minimum standards which primary care trusts use when assessing the suitability of existing or proposed alternative premises. All primary medical care contractors have a contractual obligation to provide premises that are:
	suitable for the delivery of those services; and
	sufficient to meet the reasonable needs of the contractor's patients.

Hospital Beds

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds in NHS organisations  (a) there were and  (b) were occupied in each ward type in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The number of occupied and available bed days and day only beds is collected annually, from national health service providers. The following table shows the average daily number of available and occupied beds in wards open overnight by ward classification in England, 2003-04 to 2007-08.
	Bed numbers have fallen because hospitals are dealing with patients more efficiently and more people are treated in primary care settingsexperts all agree that this is the best way to deliver health care to patients.
	Advances in medical technology and shorter stays for routine operations mean fewer beds are needed across the servicethis is part of a long-term downward trend in the average length of stay in hospital.
	
		
			  Average daily number of available and occupied beds in wards open overnight by ward classification, England, 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Ward classification  Available beds  Occupied beds  Available beds  Occupied beds  Available beds  Occupied beds  Available beds  Occupied beds  Available beds  Occupied beds 
			 All ward types 184,019 157,862 180,966 154,215 175,436 148,465 167,019 141,133 160,297 135,132 
			
			 Intensive care: neonates 1,491 1,084 1,523 1,120 1,707 1,207 1,658 1,233 1,734 1,257 
			 Intensive care: paediatric 239 164 263 201 321 236 335 246 306 217 
			 Intensive care: wholly or mainly adult 3,283 2,635 3,417 2,763 3,454 2,736 3,622 2,918 3,667 2,953 
			 Terminally ill/palliative care: wholly or mainly adult 386 302 436 338 427 320 395 309 411 316 
			 Younger physically disabled 914 738 859 698 792 649 566 445 512 392 
			 Other general and acute: neonates and children 9,191 5,639 8,995 5,477 8,584 5,338 8,461 5,276 8,314 5,315 
			 Other general and acute: elderly: normal care 25,580 23,713 24,853 22,826 22,987 21,134 21,141 19,381 19,239 17,562 
			 Other general and acute: elderly: limited care 1,874 1,612 1,788 1,497 1,705 1,466 1,756 1,515 1,462 1,233 
			 Other general and acute: other 94,289 83,409 94,030 82,350 92,850 80,805 89,042 77,047 86,137 74,670 
			 Maternity 9,309 5,896 9,081 5,727 8,881 5,774 8,643 5,567 8,441 5,397 
			 Mental illness: children: short stay 460 333 505 360 492 328 462 312 505 355 
			 Mental illness: children: long stay 58 42 20 14 17 15 35 25 18 15 
			 Mental illness: elderly: short stay 7,528 6,304 7,475 6,202 7,343 6,016 6,945 5,726 6,577 5,320 
			 Mental illness: elderly: long stay 4,574 3,773 4,043 3,409 3,591 2,909 2,832 2,346 2,417 2,007 
			 Mental illness: other ages: secure unit 2,569 2,378 2,696 2,472 2,807 2,545 2,993 2,722 3,159 2,885 
			 Mental illness: other ages: short stay 13,268 12,191 12,891 11,840 12,419 11,050 11,761 10,556 11,372 10,112 
			 Mental illness: other ages: long stay 3,795 3,264 3,656 3,183 3,134 2,646 2,887 2,545 2,880 2,551 
			 Learning disabilities: children: short stay 229 147 258 169 208 134 182 123 185 107 
			 Learning disabilities: children: long stay 59 41 46 34 26 21 42 37 23 17 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: secure unit 514 470 503 484 526 502 516 489 554 508 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: short stay 1,210 955 1,222 962 1,188 938 1,098 867 1,053 774 
			 Learning disabilities: other ages: long stay 3,199 2,771 2,387 2,087 1,978 1,696 1,649 1,448 1,332 1,169 
			  Source: Department of Health form KH03.

Hospitals: Fires

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms there are for hospitals where fires have occurred to share information with other hospitals about those fires.

Mike O'Brien: National health service organisations, excluding NHS foundation trusts, have a mandatory duty to report fire incidents to which the fire and rescue service has been called. Reporting is through the Estates Facilities Management (EFM) online information system as set out in Firecode: Health Technical Memorandum 05-01 Managing healthcare fire safety, which has been placed in the Library. Information from reported fire incidents is analysed to update the Department's suite of fire safety guidanceFirecode.

Hospitals: Information and Communications Technology

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer of 21 May 2009,  Official Report, column 1595W, on hospitals: ICT, if he will direct the NHS to develop a national IT protocol for an interface between the x-ray services provided by Centricity and Medway.

Mike O'Brien: This is a matter for the local national health service bodies operating the systems concerned. However, the NHS national programme for IT utilises industry standard messaging protocols when developing interfaces between systems, and has procured picture archiving and communications (digital imaging) systems that conform to the Dicom international standard. Use of standards, as opposed to developing bespoke protocols, ensures local flexibility within the NHS.

In Vitro Fertilisation

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many in-vitro fertilisation treatments were funded by the national health service in each region in each of the last three years.

Gillian Merron: Surveys on the number of cycles of in vitro fertilisation offered by primary care trusts were published on the Department's website in June 2008 and June 2009 and can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Healthcare/Fertility/index.htm
	The surveys relate to information gathered for the years 2006-07 to 2009-10. Copies have been placed in the Library.

Muscular Dystrophy

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department is providing for research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2009-10.

Gillian Merron: Both the Department and the Medical Research Council (MRC) support research into Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The MRC spent 2.1 million on such research in 2007-08. (Figures for more recent years are not yet available.) Projected Departmental expenditure in the current financial year is principally expenditure by National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research centres and amounts to 450,000.

Muscular Dystrophy

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for people with muscular dystrophy.

Ann Keen: We have made no assessment of the adequacy of the number of centres of excellence for those living with muscular dystrophy. It is the responsibility of local health bodies to ensure adequate health and social care services to meet the needs of their local population with muscular dystrophy.

National Child Measurement Programme

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the results of the National Child Measurement Programme for 2008-09 to be published.

Gillian Merron: The NHS Information Centre will publish the results of the National Child Measurement Programme for 2008-09 in December 2009.

NHS: Drugs

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what  (a) requirements and  (b) regulations govern the promotion of medicines outside their licensed indication by (i) manufacturers, (ii) healthcare providers and (iii) other parties.

Mike O'Brien: The promotion of medicines is regulated under the Medicines (Advertising) Regulations 1994, which implement Title VIII of Directive 2001/83/EC. These regulations prohibit the promotion of a medicine outside its licensed indication. The prohibition applies to industry, healthcare providers and other parties.

NHS: Drugs

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire of 24 November 2008,  Official Report, column 927W, on the NHS: drugs, whether the review by strategic health authorities into collaboration in their areas to support effective decision-making has been concluded; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We would expect that all strategic health authorities will have complied with the NHS chief executive's letter of 4 November 2008 asking them to review the arrangements in place in their local area and how collaboration could be encouraged to support better decision making. It is the responsibility of each organisation's board to ensure that this has been followed in their area.
	Since then, the NHS constitution, launched in January 2009, says that patients have the right to expect local decisions on funding of other drugs and treatments to be made rationally, following a proper consideration of the evidence. This right is underpinned by:
	defining guiding principles for processes supporting local decision making about medicines, published in January 2009;
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_093413
	supporting rational local decision-making about medicines and treatments: A handbook of good practice guidance, published by the National Prescribing Centre in March 2009;
	www.npc.co.uk/policy/local/constitution_handbook.htm
	and
	new statutory directions to primary care trusts (PCTs) and NHS trusts concerning decisions about drugs and other treatments 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2009
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/DH_096067
	As a result of the various measures we have put in place, we expect to see significant improvements in PCTs' decision-making processes, including increased transparency and consistency in the way these decisions are made. This will mean that patients and the public can be very clear about what the national health service is offering them by way of access to drugs and how those decisions about funding are taken.

NHS: Drugs

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department has made in commissioning a national audit of demand for unfunded drugs, as referred to on page 6 of Improving access to medicines for NHS patients; what estimate he has made of the cost of meeting such demand; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: We are currently developing proposals for pilotswhich should begin later this yearto audit the demand for unfunded drugs. Until we have carried out the pilots, we cannot estimate the cost of meeting the demand for unfunded drugs.

NHS: Fires

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how much has been spent by his Department on fire response training for NHS staff in each year since 2003;
	(2)  what fire response training is being provided for NHS staff in 2009-10.

Mike O'Brien: National health service organisations determine locally the content, method of delivery and frequency of their fire response training based on a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment. Information on the expenditure on fire response training in the NHS is not collected centrally.

NHS: Gypsies

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans there are to ensure that Gypsies and Travellers have the same access as others to the NHS.

Phil Hope: The Department has embarked on a programme of work to improve the health status of Gypsies and Travellers. The programme, including Pacesetters, is aiming for better awareness of community needs among national health service professionals; more effective health promotion among Gypsy and Traveller communities; and better access to both primary and secondary care for community members. This work is based on engagement and partnership working with both the NHS and Gypsy and Traveller communities.

NHS: Management Consultants

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the national health service spent on external consultants in each of the last five years.

Mike O'Brien: The Department does not collect the specific information requested centrally.

NHS: Private Sector

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps his Department has taken to inform primary care trusts of the Moving Beyond Sponsorship programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many primary care trusts have participated in the Moving Beyond Sponsorship programme to date; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: In February 2008, the Department published best practice guidance for joint working between the national health service and the pharmaceutical industry, where this benefits patients, and within appropriate governance arrangements. To support NHS organisations and companies who wish to enter into such projects, the Department published in March 2008 an interactive toolkit to support joint working, entitled Moving Beyond Sponsorship.
	The Department has undertaken an awareness campaign to promote this to the NHS including attendance at 11 key conferences, including NHS ConfederationPrimary Care Network, the NHS Alliance and NICE conferences. We will be working with strategic health authorities to raise awareness within their regions.
	Joint working is taking place within a number of primary care trusts, however, the Department does not collect information on individual projects.

Patient Choice Schemes

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure his Department has incurred on services enabling patients to make hospital appointments in the last 12 months; and how many people worked on these services at the latest date for which figures are available.

Mike O'Brien: Expenditure incurred by NHS Direct on services to support booking of first consultant outpatient appointments through the appointments line and the number of staff working in these areas is included in the following table.
	
		
			   Expenditure (including staff and non-staff costs) April 2008 to March 2009 ( million)  Staff (in whole -  time equivalents) April 2008 to  March 2009  Expenditure (including staff and non-staff costs) April to May 2009 ( million )  Staff (in whole - time equivalents) April to May 2009 
			 National Appointments Line (NHS Direct) 7.033 213.21 1.242 240.92 
			  Source:  NHS Direct

Prescription Drugs

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent representations he has received on the use of generic prescription drugs in the NHS; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The pharmaceutical price regulation scheme (2008) announced that subject to discussion with affected parties, the Department will introduce generic substitution in primary care. This is a complex issue with many interested stakeholders. Discussions with key stakeholders and interested parties are still underway and are expected to continue into early summer. Some representations have also been received in written format. Issues covered are broad but include implementation implications, for example, whether to exclude certain categories of medicines for clinical reasons. We want to make sure we engage with all stakeholders in the best way possible and are currently considering how best to do so.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 16 June 2009,  Official Report, columns 230-1W, on prescriptions: fees and charges, how many respondents there were to Professor Ian Gilmore's web-based survey of prescription charges; how many written submissions of evidence were made to his review of prescription charges; how many oral evidence sessions the review held with stakeholder groups; and with how many GPs deliberative research on prescription charges has been conducted in the last financial year.

Mike O'Brien: The written consultation received 39 submissions. The web-based survey aimed primarily at the public received 1,750 responses. Oral evidence sessions were held with 18 key stakeholders. A total of six workshops were held across England as part of the deliberative research with general practitioners (GPs), involving 30 GPs in total.

Stem Cells: Research

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms his Department uses to ensure the efficient use of the funds allocated by his Department for the purpose of stem cell research.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research. The MRC provides funding for research through a range of grants and personal awards to scientists in universities, medical schools and other research institutes. Applications are generally submitted by the scientific community in 'response mode' and the MRC always welcomes high quality applications for support into any aspect of human health. Funding is usually provided in open competition across all areas of science, though the MRC also issues targeted calls for proposals to stimulate research in strategic priority areas.
	The MRC has also earmarked specific funding to build capacity through studentships and clinical training fellowships in the stem cell area.
	All applications are peer reviewed by independent scientific experts in the UK and overseas. This peer review is the first part of a two-stage process, which helps the MRC's research boards and committees to decide which proposals to consider at their funding meetings. The research boards use similar criteria to those of the referees and also identify any ethical issues or risks to human participants that need further attention.
	The primary considerations in funding decisions are research excellence and importance to health; however, high quality proposals in areas of particular strategic importance may be given priority in competition for funds.

Stem Cells: Research

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health to which  (a) neurological research and  (b) other projects his Department has allocated funding for the purpose of stem cell research.

David Lammy: I have been asked to reply.
	The Medical Research Council (MRC) is one of the main agencies through which the Government supports medical and clinical research.
	The MRC spent 25.6 million on research on stem cells in 2007-08. A list of the projects, which includes neurological projects, will be placed in both Libraries of the House.

Strokes: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reported cases of stroke there were in  (a) males and  (b) females in each age group in the London Borough of Bexley in each year since 1999.

Ann Keen: The following table provides a count of the finished admission episodes for stroke in Bexley Care Trust broken down by age group and sex for the years 1999-2000 to 2007-08.
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes f or a primary diagnosis of stroke( *)  in Bexley PCT for the ten year period 1998-99 to 2007-08, given by age groups and gender. Activity in English national health service hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Gender  Age groups  2007-08  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03  2001-02  2000-01  1999-2000  1998-99 
			  Male 0-9 0 0 0 0 0 * 0 0 * 0 
			  10-19 0 * * * 0 * * 0 0 0 
			  20-29 * * 0 * * * 0 0 0 * 
			  30-39 * * 6 6 * * * 0 0 12 
			  40-49 8 8 7 11 8 9 7 * * * 
			  50-59 27 20 20 11 16 18 16 10 20 11 
			  60-69 31 27 33 21 27 28 23 27 25 33 
			  70-79 51 55 45 47 50 49 45 34 54 47 
			  80-89 46 34 40 31 49 41 33 48 36 47 
			  90+ 9 11 * * 11 8 6 * * 6 
			  Total male 177 159 157 131 169 162 138 127 146 185 
			 
			  Female 0-9 * 0 0 * 0 * * 8 0 * 
			  10-19 0 0 0 0 * 0 0 0 * * 
			  20-29 * * 0 * * * 0 * 0 0 
			  30-39 7 * * * * * * * * 0 
			  40-49 * 9 * 8 * * 6 * 6 * 
			  50-59 7 19 17 13 15 13 14 14 * 13 
			  60-69 17 20 27 24 18 18 28 18 33 25 
			  70-79 34 34 46 50 40 46 45 56 37 48 
			  80-89 81 54 61 77 75 53 62 56 58 66 
			  90+ 24 16 17 29 26 25 13 20 15 13 
			  Total females 176 165 183 205 186 165 175 174 157 177 
			 
			 Unknown 80-89 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 
			  Grand Total 353 324 341 336 355 327 318 301 308 342 
			  Source:  Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many apprenticeships in each industry have been  (a) advertised and  (b) filled through the National Apprenticeship Vacancy Matching Service.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 11 May 2009
	The National Apprenticeship Service online vacancy matching system has been developed to provide a high quality service to employers wishing to recruit apprentices, and to young people and adults considering an apprenticeship. This will help deliver the objective outlined in World-class Apprenticeships to expand and improve the quality of our apprenticeship programme.
	At the end of April 2009, 4,157 vacancies were live on the system; a total of 8,051 vacancies have been posted since 12 January 2009 when the system went live. 93 vacancies have been filled through the service with 2,445 vacancies having current applications. The figures at this stage provide provisional data on apprenticeship applications. Feedback from a number of employers suggest that the recruitment process can take up to four months. In addition, the system was built to allow employers flexibility to integrate the advertising of apprenticeship opportunities on the system, with their own HR systems. In these instances candidates click through the Vacancy Matching System to the employers' own recruitment website. The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) is looking at how feedback can be obtained from these employers, mainly national companies, without putting undue bureaucracy on them.

Council for Science and Technology

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what work the Council for Science and Technology  (a) has undertaken and  (b) plans to undertake on energy and climate-related matters.

David Lammy: The Council for Science and Technology (CST) produced a report in 2005 entitled 'An electricity supply strategy for the UK', and a report in 2007 entitled 'Strategic decision making for technology policy' which included energy technologies.
	CST is currently undertaking a project titled 'A national infrastructure for the 21(st) century', which includes both the energy sector and the impact of climate change.
	CST has no immediate plans to undertake any further projects on energy or climate-related matters.

Council for Science and Technology

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what work the Council for Science and Technology is undertaking on future infrastructure policy.

David Lammy: The Council for Science and Technology (CST) is currently undertaking a project titled 'A national infrastructure for the 21(st) Century'.
	This project is taking a cross-cutting view of the water, energy, transport and communications infrastructures and will make high level recommendations to Government on interventions needed to ensure a national infrastructure that continues to support economic growth and social wellbeing.
	The plan is to publish the report before the summer recess.

Electric Vehicles

Gregory Barker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the merits of designating electric vehicle charging points as regulated assets.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	Officials from the Departments for Energy and Climate Change and Transport will be considering this issue in the course of their joint working on electric vehicle infrastructure.

Fuels: Prices

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of likely future trends in the pump prices of  (a) unleaded petrol and  (b) diesel.

David Kidney: I have been asked to reply.
	DECC does not forecast the pump prices of unleaded petrol or diesel. However, we do publish long-term oil price projections. Further details are available through the following links:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/environment/projections/recent/page26391.html
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file51365.pdf
	Assumptions about a weighted average of road fuel prices, based DECC's oil price projections, are also used in our Updated Energy Projections. These assumptions are available through the following links:
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/energy/environment/projections/index.html
	http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file48514.pdf

Overseas Students: USA

David Willetts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will bring forward proposals to increase the number of US students studying in this country.

David Lammy: I have no plans to bring forward specific proposals for increasing the number of students from the United States studying at higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. However, through the second phase of the Prime Minister's initiative for international education (PMI2), the Government are working with the education sector to increase the number of international students studying in this country. The United States is one of the priority countries for PMI2. The numbers of students from the United States choosing to study in the UK has increased from 8,735 in 2000-01 to 13,900 students in 2007-08, the latest date for which data are available, an increase of 59 per cent.

Rover Group

Richard Burden: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will request the inspectors investigating MG Rover to produce a progress report setting out  (a) the estimated length of time required to complete the inquiry,  (b) the estimated additional cost to complete the inquiry and  (c) an explanation of the time taken to complete the inquiry.

Ian Lucas: The inspectors delivered their report on 11 June 2009. It will be for my noble Friend the Secretary of State to consider its findings and next steps.
	The total cost of the Rover inquiry as at 31 May 2009 was 15,922,838 (broken down as 13,134,334 in costs, 451,542 in disbursements and 2,336,962 in VAT).
	The Inquiry was complex but the cost has been very high. The Government will carefully consider the approach to any future exercises of this sort with a view to minimising expense to the taxpayer.

Train to Gain Programme

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people  (a) started and  (b) completed a training course under the Train to Gain scheme in the last 12 months.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 23 April 2009
	Train to Gain is the Government's flagship service providing advice, support and funding to employers in England, of all sizes and in all sectors. It gives employers better access to a wider range of opportunities for improving the skills of their employees, and the productivity of their business.
	Learner participation in Train to Gain is recorded in the Statistical First Release, which was issued on 26 March 2009 by the national Data Service. The Statistical First Release provides data by academic year, and shows that 346,200 people started a training course through Train to Gain between 1 August 2007 and 31 July 2008 and 386,200 started between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.
	187,300 individuals achieved a qualification between 1 August 2007 and 31 July 2008, and 152,000 achieved one between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009.
	Further information is available in the Statistical First Release which can be found at:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrmar09/summary.htm

Vocational Training

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills with reference to his Department's press release of 17 December 2008, on funding for advice to people who have lost their jobs, over what time period the additional 40,000 pre-employment training places will be put in place; and how many additional training places have been established at the most recent date for which information is available.

Kevin Brennan: The Government's announcement covered a 100 million package of funding to support people who are under notice of redundancy, newly redundant or close to the labour market. The unit cost will vary according to the type and duration of training that individual does undertake. We have reassessed the capacity of the funding, and estimate that we will now support around 70,000 learners through this provision. This was announced as an important part of the wider package of support being made available to help those facing redundancy. The additional places are funded through the Learning and Skills Council and will help people improve their employability skills and find work.
	The Learning and Skills Council has confirmed that contracts for delivery of provision were in place at the end of April and that provision is now available across the country.
	This is a new programme and data on take up is not yet available.

Vocational Training

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many pre-employment training places have been funded by his Department in each month since June 2007; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: It is vitally important that people seeking employment are able to get the help they need to overcome the skills barriers they face and improve their chances of finding sustainable work.
	DIUS and DWP are working together to develop a comprehensive package of advice and training support, delivered through an integrated service supported by Job Centre Plus and the Learning and Skills Council.
	That package includes advice and guidance available through nextstep and the Careers Advice Service, including a skills health check to ensure that training fits individuals' needs.
	Places funded by the Adult Learner Responsive are available to learners claiming benefits. The LSC also funds training places for those with identified skills development needs. Figures for the number of places on specific programmes are broken down by academic year.
	Pre-employment places were available on the Employability Skills Programme and Skills for Jobs as follows:
	
		
			   Employability Skills Programme (ESP)  Skills for Jobs 
			 2006-07 5,844  
			 2007-08 15,908 10,227 
			 2008-09 (1)15,129 (2)7,402 
			 (1 )To end February 2009.  (2 )To end March 2009 when this programme ended. 
		
	
	From April 2009, the LSC is funding two new programmes providing work-focused pre-employment training for people facing redundancy and the unemployed. Data on participation is not yet available.

Vocational Training

Steve Webb: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of pre-employment training offered by Jobcentre Plus is funded by  (a) his Department and  (b) the Learning and Skills Council; and how much such funding was allocated in each quarter of the last three years.

Kevin Brennan: We are not able to give the full answer to this question because the cost of training can not be distinguished from the Department of Work and Pension's wider investment in employment provision.
	Through the Learning and Skills Council, my Department funds specific pre-employment programmes aimed at helping people overcome skills barriers to employment. Those programmes are the Employability Skills Programme and Skills for Jobs and both are delivered in partnership with Jobcentre Plus.
	Funding figures are available for full year spend and are as follows:
	
		
			  Employability Skills Programme 
			million 
			 2006-07 23 
			 2007-08 24.8 
			 2008-09 36.5 
		
	
	Skills for Jobs were introduced in January 2008 and have spent 18.4 million from January 2008 and end March 2009.
	Two new programmes worth 183 million have recently been introduced to support more people who are newly unemployed and unemployed for six months to train and gain sustainable employment. Data on participation is not yet available.

Vocational Training

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which 10 occupations have the largest number of unemployed workers undertaking retraining.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 8 May 2009
	The Department does not collect or hold this information centrally.

Woolworths: Vocational Training

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many former employees of Woolworths have undertaken government retraining courses; and how many of these have since been employed in the role for which they were retrained.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 8 May 2009
	Jobcentre Plus do not record outcomes for former employees of particular employers who have found work or taken part in Government funded training. The costs of this would be prohibitive.
	DWP's rapid response service to support people facing redundancy; part of which offers focused training for those requiring training or certification; was provided to almost all Woolworths' staff before store closure, in conjunction with on site benefits advice and support on job search.

JUSTICE

Consultants: Ministry of Justice

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what budget his Department has set for expenditure on external consultants in 2009-10.

Jack Straw: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) does not have a set overall budget for external consultancy. The Department recorded a full year spend for 2008-09 on consultancy of 54 million. This is a reduction from 56 million in 2007-09. Through a programme of efficiency savings the Department is aiming to further reduce its dependency on consultancy spend which will result in an anticipated further reduction in cost.

Departmental Lost Property

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many laptop computers belonging to  (a) his Department and its predecessor and  (b) its agencies have been lost or stolen in the last five years.

Jack Straw: Reported losses or thefts of laptops belonging to the Ministry of Justice, since it was established in May 2007, are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007-08 5 
			 2008-09 5 
		
	
	Reported losses or thefts of laptops belonging to Ministry of Justice agencies, including Her Majesty's Courts Service, Tribunals Service National Offender Management Service (including Her Majesty's Prison Service and the National Probation Service), are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2007 11 
			 2008 19 
		
	
	Four of the laptops belonging to agencies reported lost were subsequently recovered. Another one of those lost went missing in delivery and had never been used.
	Reported losses for the predecessor Department for Constitutional Affairs, including its agencies, are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 27 
			 2005 20 
			 2006 27

Disclosure of Information: Royal Family

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice for what reasons  (a) Cabinet papers and  (b) information in respect of the royal family are not included in his proposals to replace the 30-year rule with a 20-year rule for disclosure of official public documents.

Jack Straw: Following the Dacre Review Report the Government will reduce the length of the 30-year rule to 20 years.
	Having considered the Review's recommendations carefully, it will also bring forward additional protections for some limited categories of information. The Government's full response to the Report will be published by the summer.

Driving Offences: Convictions

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each age group in each local authority area have been  (a) charged and  (b) convicted of driving offences in each of the last five years.

Claire Ward: Proceedings at magistrates courts for motoring offences, by age group, in England and Wales, by police force area, for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in table 1.
	Charging data are not held by the Ministry of Justice, thus proceedings at magistrates courts data have been provided in lieu.
	Findings of guilt at all courts for motoring offences, by age group, in England and Wales, by police force area, for the years 2003 to 2007 (latest available) can be viewed in table 2.
	It is not possible to further break down data to local authority area level as this data are not held by the Ministry of Justice, thus police force area data have been provided in lieu.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Proceedings at magistrates courts for motoring offences, by age group, in England and Wales, by police force area 2003-07( 1,)( )( 2) 
			   2003  2004  2005 
			  Police force area  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 12,849 77,009 89,858 12,280 75,233 87,513 10,601 64,307 74,908 
			 Bedfordshire 5,119 24,840 29,959 3,643 18,500 22,143 3,750 25,271 29,021 
			 Cambridgeshire 3,679 12,883 16,562 2,934 13,838 16,772 2,585 16,415 19,000 
			 Cheshire 5,472 27,176 32,648 5,698 32,460 38,158 4,402 25,373 29,775 
			 Cleveland 6,543 24,806 31,349 5,048 22,525 27,573 3,677 15,140 18,817 
			 Cumbria 3,383 16,638 20,021 3,591 16,042 19,633 2,729 14,147 16,876 
			 Derbyshire 4,172 29,321 33,493 4,222 28,869 33,091 3,113 24,294 27,407 
			 Devon and Cornwall 9,778 56,585 66,363 9,145 50,057 59,202 7,247 43,773 51,020 
			 Dorset 6,690 35,492 42,182 5,105 31,255 36,360 5,123 30,832 35,955 
			 Durham 5,409 16,007 21,416 4,589 14,622 19,211 3,361 11,837 15,198 
			 Essex 7,279 41,459 48,738 6,418 39,577 45,995 6,099 40,630 46,729 
			 Gloucestershire 4,346 22,524 26,870 3,458 19,330 22,788 2,681 18,500 21,181 
			 Greater Manchester 39,405 172,419 211,824 32,166 167,237 199,403 21,905 145,927 167,832 
			 Hampshire 12,085 54,270 66,355 10,342 50,553 60,895 8,383 41,153 49,536 
			 Hertfordshire 5,026 31,798 36,824 2,317 34,856 37,173 2,081 35,353 37,434 
			 Humberside 6,653 27,476 34,129 6,741 29,076 35,817 5,279 26,083 31,362 
			 Kent 9,904 42,651 52,555 11,732 51,853 63,585 9,163 43,175 52,338 
			 Lancashire 14,985 70,984 85,969 11,777 55,388 67,165 12,667 56,488 69,155 
			 Leicestershire 11,295 54,442 65,737 8,860 44,134 52,994 5,184 26,483 31,667 
			 Lincolnshire 6,087 33,845 39,932 6,196 36,036 42,232 5,168 30,731 35,899 
			 London, city of 940 13,002 13,942 649 17,433 18,082 572 13,112 13,684 
			 Merseyside 14,662 46,580 61,242 14,961 48,615 63,576 10,848 38,073 48,921 
			 Metropolitan Police District 36,698 164,851 201,549 35,343 182,289 217,632 30,952 163,297 194,249 
			 Norfolk 5,032 22,989 28,021 4,023 19,797 23,820 3,605 18,988 22,593 
			 Northamptonshire 4,286 23,461 27,747 5,567 27,946 33,513 3,614 22,800 26,414 
			 Northumbria 12,168 50,995 63,163 9,464 50,421 59,885 8,961 50,026 58,987 
			 North Yorkshire 4,169 15,674 19,843 3,879 17,617 21,496 3,283 14,535 17,818 
			 Nottinghamshire 10,046 29,091 39,137 8,044 29,565 37,609 5,983 24,899 30,882 
			 South Yorkshire 10,724 42,738 53,462 7,890 40,931 48,821 8,132 38,401 46,533 
			 Staffordshire 7,283 29,739 37,022 7,067 35,722 42,789 6,465 34,364 40,829 
			 Suffolk 6,134 28,336 34,470 5,743 31,179 36,922 4,541 26,393 30,934 
			 Surrey 3,157 15,770 18,927 2,656 9,972 12,628 2,735 15,993 18,728 
			 Sussex 4,925 27,881 32,806 3,260 13,540 16,800 3,402 24,233 27,635 
			 Thames Valley 9,688 56,051 65,739 7,723 58,285 66,008 6,835 50,243 57,078 
			 Warwickshire 3,250 16,564 19,814 3,048 18,661 21,709 2,272 15,518 17,790 
			 West Mercia 5,776 32,814 38,590 2,957 26,318 29,275 3,282 32,483 35,765 
			 West Midlands 32,199 150,203 182,402 26,980 155,270 182,250 20,646 137,374 158,020 
			 West Yorkshire 21,176 94,169 115,345 25,258 137,639 162,897 16,598 115,030 131,628 
			 Wiltshire 4,414 29,255 33,669 4,270 27,007 31,277 4,369 27,027 31,396 
			 Dyfed Powys 3,412 19,343 22,755 2,315 15,657 17,972 2,899 15,853 18,752 
			 Gwent 4,295 21,058 25,353 4,011 18,117 22,128 3,656 16,499 20,155 
			 North Wales 5,535 29,787 35,322 5,129 29,443 34,572 3,653 22,687 26,340 
			 South Wales 17,733 70,468 88,201 17,992 73,797 91,789 13,215 58,476 71,691 
			   
			 England and Wales 407,861 1,903,444 2,311,305 364,491 1,916,662 2,281,153 295,716 1,712,216 2,007,932 
		
	
	
		
			   2006  2007 
			  Police force area  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 9,075 54,124 63,199 6,873 44,036 50,909 
			 Bedfordshire 3,215 23,365 26,580 2,220 18,779 20,999 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,930 21,143 24,073 1,846 16,752 18,598 
			 Cheshire 3,501 21,377 24,878 2,877 23,708 26,585 
			 Cleveland 3,398 13,218 16,616 2,070 10,331 12,401 
			 Cumbria 2,501 13,952 16,453 2,281 12,347 14,628 
			 Derbyshire 2,421 18,412 20,833 2,170 19,105 21,275 
			 Devon and Cornwall 7,132 40,036 47,168 5,104 29,753 34,857 
			 Dorset 3,665 25,496 29,161 2,462 21,673 24,135 
			 Durham 2,220 8,535 10,755 2,382 8,803 11,185 
			 Essex 5,109 34,370 39,479 4,658 34,468 39,126 
			 Gloucestershire 1,525 15,611 17,136 617 13,507 14,124 
			 Greater Manchester 15,660 114,030 129,690 9,466 78,119 87,585 
			 Hampshire 5,948 32,357 38,305 5,410 28,038 33,448 
			 Hertfordshire 1,581 32,215 33,796 1,414 25,519 26,933 
			 Humberside 4,572 20,463 25,035 2,978 15,285 18,263 
			 Kent 6,886 35,033 41,919 4,250 29,124 33,374 
			 Lancashire 9,512 53,869 63,381 7,617 45,249 52,866 
			 Leicestershire 3,533 21,224 24,757 2,317 17,545 19,862 
			 Lincolnshire 4,049 26,785 30,834 2,931 20,947 23,878 
			 London, city of 421 11,064 11,485 441 14,773 15,214 
			 Merseyside 5,281 28,147 33,428 3,848 29,442 33,290 
			 Metropolitan Police District 25,192 148,252 173,444 20,468 133,648 154,116 
			 Norfolk 3,442 19,654 23,096 3,041 14,994 18,035 
			 Northamptonshire 2,772 20,497 23,269 1,436 11,856 13,292 
			 Northumbria 7,647 43,546 51,193 5,716 37,636 43,352 
			 North Yorkshire 2,557 11,825 14,382 2,315 12,942 15,257 
			 Nottinghamshire 4,241 20,706 24,947 3,168 20,218 23,386 
			 South Yorkshire 6,551 35,142 41,693 4,239 26,229 30,468 
			 Staffordshire 4,980 28,332 33,312 3,647 25,392 29,039 
			 Suffolk 3,221 22,646 25,867 2,393 17,855 20,248 
			 Surrey 2,445 15,755 18,200 2,868 18,230 21,098 
			 Sussex 3,433 23,671 27,104 2,979 23,852 26,831 
			 Thames Valley 6,030 44,181 50,211 5,003 35,919 40,922 
			 Warwickshire 1,875 13,165 15,040 1,577 10,370 11,947 
			 West Mercia 2,538 32,096 34,634 3,149 26,753 29,902 
			 West Midlands 15,281 109,199 124,480 11,579 86,076 97,655 
			 West Yorkshire 11,508 91,545 103,053 9,733 67,620 77,353 
			 Wiltshire 3,789 24,734 28,523 2,651 20,529 23,180 
			 Dyfed Powys 2,259 13,620 15,879 1,898 11,438 13,336 
			 Gwent 3,277 15,523 18,800 2,245 14,323 16,568 
			 North Wales 3,546 24,300 27,846 2,559 17,932 20,491 
			 South Wales 11,354 53,018 64,372 8,349 42,492 50,841 
			
			 England and Wales 232,073 1,476,233 1,708,306 177,245 1,233,607 1,410,852 
			 (1) It is known that for some police force areas the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  OCJR EA (Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit), Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Findings of guilt at all courts for motoring offences, by age group, in England and Wales, by  police force area 2003- 07( 1,)( )( 2) 
			   2003  2004  2005 
			  Police force area  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 7,888 45,390 53,278 7,471 45,642 53,113 6,461 37,442 43,903 
			 Bedfordshire 2,714 14,341 17,055 2,051 9,394 11,445 1,971 14,802 16,773 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,642 9,434 12,076 2,232 10,136 12,368 2,041 12,402 14,443 
			 Cheshire 4,515 22,880 27,395 4,606 26,977 31,583 3,539 21,598 25,137 
			 Cleveland 4,144 16,386 20,530 3,844 16,523 20,367 3,005 11,667 14,672 
			 Cumbria 2,569 12,437 15,006 2,775 12,132 14,907 2,101 10,739 12,840 
			 Derbyshire 3,368 23,291 26,659 3,442 23,394 26,836 2,551 19,907 22,458 
			 Devon and Cornwall 5,685 34,368 40,053 5,575 30,837 36,412 4,543 27,057 31,600 
			 Dorset 3,264 17,536 20,800 2,446 15,534 17,980 2,546 16,046 18,592 
			 Durham 4,225 11,766 15,991 3,618 10,465 14,083 2,555 7,976 10,531 
			 Essex 5,661 31,848 37,509 5,035 31,188 36,223 4,822 32,614 37,436 
			 Gloucestershire 2,193 12,273 14,466 2,174 11,984 14,158 1,567 10,438 12,005 
			 Greater Manchester 22,975 101,454 124,429 19,174 97,430 116,604 14,069 87,439 101,508 
			 Hampshire 8,729 40,453 49,182 7,616 37,342 44,958 6,228 31,243 37,471 
			 Hertfordshire 3,575 22,099 25,674 1,777 24,831 26,608 1,560 25,453 27,013 
			 Humberside 5,013 20,116 25,129 5,166 20,771 25,937 4,256 18,903 23,159 
			 Kent 6,640 30,646 37,286 7,582 35,310 42,892 6,276 31,531 37,807 
			 Lancashire 10,081 47,358 57,439 7,689 36,112 43,801 8,034 35,487 43,521 
			 Leicestershire 7,747 37,739 45,486 6,670 30,362 37,032 4,042 18,985 23,027 
			 Lincolnshire 4,293 24,873 29,166 4,497 26,940 31,437 3,553 22,302 25,855 
			 London, city of 595 7,866 8,461 339 7,860 8,199 425 10,433 10,858 
			 Merseyside 10,488 33,539 44,027 10,274 33,923 44,197 7,919 27,663 35,582 
			 Metropolitan Police District 26,932 115,925 142,857 27,416 136,729 164,145 24,167 123,456 147,623 
			 Norfolk 3,445 16,970 20,415 2,958 15,213 18,171 2,571 14,849 17,420 
			 Northamptonshire 2,776 17,100 19,876 3,706 20,166 23,872 2,313 16,472 18,785 
			 Northumbria 8,769 36,116 44,885 7,080 37,449 44,529 6,949 37,206 44,155 
			 North Yorkshire 2,576 9,279 11,855 2,420 10,627 13,047 2,239 9,682 11,921 
			 Nottinghamshire 8,145 23,892 32,037 6,688 24,591 31,279 4,975 21,331 26,306 
			 South Yorkshire 7,443 29,702 37,145 5,866 30,005 35,871 6,022 28,768 34,790 
			 Staffordshire 5,183 20,841 26,024 5,266 24,130 29,396 4,721 23,163 27,884 
			 Suffolk 3,319 14,348 17,667 3,278 15,663 18,941 2,679 14,717 17,396 
			 Surrey 2,428 11,558 13,986 2,055 7,213 9,268 2,180 12,591 14,771 
			 Sussex 3,529 18,379 21,908 2,537 8,742 11,279 2,673 18,015 20,688 
			 Thames Valley 6,665 40,562 47,227 5,457 44,217 49,674 5,033 38,350 43,383 
			 Warwickshire 2,333 12,600 14,933 2,514 14,849 17,363 1,892 12,686 14,578 
			 West Mercia 4,226 23,444 27,670 2,340 18,115 20,455 2,566 24,526 27,092 
			 West Midlands 20,651 93,245 113,896 18,301 101,760 120,061 14,035 91,532 105,567 
			 West Yorkshire 13,404 57,970 71,374 15,457 80,990 96,447 10,434 67,913 78,347 
			 Wiltshire 2,426 16,720 19,146 2,435 15,709 18,144 2,297 15,127 17,424 
			 Dyfed Powys 2,283 12,701 14,984 1,612 10,504 12,116 1,970 10,580 12,550 
			 Gwent 3,569 15,876 19,445 3,393 13,413 16,806 3,000 12,535 15,535 
			 North Wales 3,594 20,356 23,950 3,687 21,450 25,137 2,743 17,445 20,188 
			 South Wales 10,422 40,777 51,199 10,324 42,009 52,333 7,568 33,773 41,341 
			 England and Wales 273,122 1,266,454 1,539,576 250,843 1,288,631 1,539,474 207,091 1,176,844 1,383,935 
		
	
	
		
			   2006  2007 
			  Police force area  Under 21  21 and over  Total  Under 21  21 and over  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 5,941 33,549 39,490 4,545 27,524 32,069 
			 Bedfordshire 1,858 14,563 16,421 1,458 13,143 14,601 
			 Cambridgeshire 2,219 15,868 18,087 1,569 13,267 14,836 
			 Cheshire 2,877 17,780 20,657 2,378 19,859 22,237 
			 Cleveland 2,880 10,195 13,075 1,765 7,924 9,689 
			 Cumbria 1,949 10,683 12,632 1,857 9,980 11,837 
			 Derbyshire 2,085 15,434 17,519 1,845 16,646 18,491 
			 Devon and Cornwall 4,553 23,943 28,496 3,618 20,582 24,200 
			 Dorset 1,819 13,839 15,658 1,557 11,278 12,835 
			 Durham 1,733 6,086 7,819 1,942 6,783 8,725 
			 Essex 4,291 28,308 32,599 3,941 28,866 32,807 
			 Gloucestershire 960 10,046 11,006 418 9,578 9,996 
			 Greater Manchester 10,929 74,539 85,468 7,349 56,232 63,581 
			 Hampshire 4,720 25,462 30,182 4,646 23,508 28,154 
			 Hertfordshire 1,261 23,334 24,595 1,125 18,652 19,777 
			 Humberside 3,779 15,893 19,672 2,500 11,638 14,138 
			 Kent 5,336 27,635 32,971 3,642 24,370 28,012 
			 Lancashire 6,041 33,819 39,860 5,020 30,540 35,560 
			 Leicestershire 2,787 15,940 18,727 1,942 12,893 14,835 
			 Lincolnshire 2,983 20,395 23,378 2,164 16,357 18,521 
			 London, city of 271 7,038 7,309 287 8,656 8,943 
			 Merseyside 4,113 22,491 26,604 3,126 23,286 26,412 
			 Metropolitan Police District 20,604 118,598 139,202 17,081 110,879 127,960 
			 Norfolk 2,519 15,344 17,863 2,191 11,584 13,775 
			 Northamptonshire 1,763 14,669 16,432 1,317 11,217 12,534 
			 Northumbria 6,142 33,680 39,822 4,679 29,554 34,233 
			 North Yorkshire 1,855 8,268 10,123 1,755 9,591 11,346 
			 Nottinghamshire 3,588 17,701 21,289 2,677 17,441 20,118 
			 South Yorkshire 5,000 27,121 32,121 3,437 21,470 24,907 
			 Staffordshire 3,774 20,064 23,838 2,989 18,284 21,273 
			 Suffolk 2,137 13,184 15,321 1,787 11,884 13,671 
			 Surrey 1,950 12,919 14,869 2,286 14,703 16,989 
			 Sussex 2,676 18,134 20,810 2,451 18,738 21,189 
			 Thames Valley 4,591 34,812 39,403 3,990 28,653 32,643 
			 Warwickshire 1,590 10,747 12,337 1,347 8,516 9,863 
			 West Mercia 2,087 24,689 26,776 2,515 20,350 22,865 
			 West Midlands 10,516 72,523 83,039 7,920 57,784 65,704 
			 West Yorkshire 7,337 55,512 62,849 6,323 42,448 48,771 
			 Wiltshire 2,102 14,228 16,330 1,533 12,550 14,083 
			 Dyfed Powys 1,545 9,066 10,611 1,416 7,833 9,249 
			 Gwent 2,666 12,111 14,777 1,914 10,553 12,467 
			 North Wales 2,693 18,937 21,630 1,904 13,950 15,854 
			 South Wales 6,472 30,380 36,852 4,915 25,526 30,441 
			 England and Wales 168,992 1,049,527 1,218,519 135,121 915,070 1,050,191 
			 (1 )It is known that for some police force areas the reporting of court proceedings, in particular those relating to summary motoring offences, may be less than complete. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  Source:  OCJR EA (Office for Criminal Justice Reform, Evidence and Analysis Unit), Ministry of Justice

Furniture: Ministry of Justice

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on furniture in 2008-09.

Jack Straw: The expenditure on furniture by the Ministry in the financial year 2008-09 is listed in the following table.
	
		
			
			 Ministry of Justice HQ 6,098,821 
			 HM Courts Service 1,508,010 
			 Tribunals Service 91,657 
			 Office of the Public Guardian 14,000 
			 National Offenders Management Service 445,430 
			 Total 8,157,918 
		
	
	The figure for the National Offender Management Service does not include the 42 local probation boards and trusts. Information on the costs of furniture is held locally and can be collated only at disproportionate cost.
	Furniture is typically used for a period of 20 years within the Department. Major acquisitions usually occur only where a new building is taken on following the expiry of building leases. The majority of headquarters expenditure relates to the move to a new headquarters building as part of a major rationalisation of the Ministry's London estate.
	The reduction in the number of buildings occupied in central London, increased capacity of the building and move to flexible workspace in 102 Petty France will in future save an estimated 10 million a year. This move will enable more effective working and the reduction of the size and cost of the London estate.

National Offender Management Service: Manpower

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many National Offender Management Service employees are viewed as surplus.

Jack Straw: As at 15 June 2009 there were 201 individual employees registered as surplus in the National Offender Management Service.

Offences against Children: Convictions

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted of sexual offences against children in each year since 1997.

Claire Ward: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children, 1997 to 2007 is shown in tables 1 and 2.
	The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to children .from sexual exploitation. This makes direct comparisons with previous legislation very difficult. Many new offences created by the Act will not have a direct equivalent under the old legislation. Table 1 covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, with table 2 covering offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1: Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of sexual offences against persons aged under 18 years, England and Wales 1997 to 2003, under the Sexual Offences Act 1956( 1, 2, 3, 4) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			  Offence class  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Buggery with a person aged under 16 142 91 143 80 163 70 133 64 
			 Indecent assault on a male person under 16 373 363 460 342 432 337 351 299 
			 Gross indecency by a male with a male aged under 18 33 19 23 18 19 10 11 11 
			 Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 16 716 279 810 291 846 335 788 264 
			 Indecent assault on a female under 16 1,639 1,627 1,805 1,505 1,818 1,491 1,555 1,317 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 13 40 44 40 55 32 52 40 53 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 153 199 171 225 169 189 167 214 
			 Incest offences with persons under 16 19 23 15 29 17 23 16 28 
			 Procuration of persons aged under 18 9 8 6 9 2 4  4 
			 Gross indecency with children aged under 14 172 167 325 214 330 217 283 193 
			 Total 3,296 2,820 3,798 2,768 3,828 2,728 3,344 2,447 
		
	
	
		
			   2001  2002  2003 
			  Offence class  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Buggery with a person aged under 16 120 74 80 60 59 47 
			 Indecent assault on a male person under 16 391 271 384 293 419 264 
			 Gross indecency by a male with a male aged under 18 7 0 3 5 1 0 
			 Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 16 1,112 241 1,288 292 1,265 326 
			 Indecent assault on a female under 16 1,792 1,292 1,952 1,332 1,956 1,206 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 13 53 54 43 47 71 49 
			 Unlawful sexual intercourse with girl under 16 178 214 192 228 185 248 
			 Incest offences with persons under 16 20 34 17 39 8 29 
			 Procuration of persons aged under 18 2 4 3 5 0 0 
			 Gross indecency with children aged under 14 410 249 456 261 429 281 
			 Total 4,085 2,433 4,418 2,562 4,393 2,450 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The numbers found guilty may exceed those proceeded against in table 1, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the preceding year to the defendant being found guilty at the Crown court in the following year, or the defendant was found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against. (4) Covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which identify the victim as a minor at the time the offences was committed.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformEvidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of sexual offences against persons aged under 18 years, England and Wales 2004 to 2007, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003( 1, 2, 3, 4) 
			   2004( 5)  2005  2006  2007 
			  Offence class  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Sexual assault of a male child aged under 13 27 9 119 65 118 63 130 77 
			 Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 13 or under 16 1,208 358 1,200 394 1,100 416 1,020 434 
			 Sexual assault of a female child aged under 13 162 41 495 212 531 315 582 342 
			 Sexual activity with a male or female child aged under 13 97 30 304 123 293 181 337 206 
			 Sexual activity with a male or female aged under 16 182 74 676 456 697 644 692 620 
			 Familial sexual offences of a male or female child aged under 13 31 10 99 54 108 74 128 91 
			 Abuse of children aged under 18 through prostitution and pornography 18 2 35 8 29 17 43 27 
			 Abuse of trust sexual offences against a child aged under 18 5 3 12 14 20 18 17 18 
			 Meeting a male or female aged under 16 following sexual grooming 9 3 28 25 43 36 41 51 
			 Total 1,739 530 2,968 1,351 2,939 1,764 2,990 1,866 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The numbers found guilty may exceed those proceeded against in table 1, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the preceding year to the defendant being found guilty at the Crown court in the following year, or the defendant was found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against. (4) Covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which identify the victim as a minor at the time the offences was committed. (5) Sexual Offences Act 2003 came into force on 1 May 2004.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformEvidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Offences against Children: Convictions

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people in each region of England and Wales were  (a) prosecuted for and  (b) convicted on charges relating to having sexual intercourse with an underage person in each year since 1997.

Claire Ward: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to having sexual intercourse with an underage person, by region, 1997 to 2007 is shown in tables 1 and 2.
	The Sexual Offences Act 2003 significantly modernised and strengthened the laws on sexual offences in England and Wales to provide extra protection to children from sexual exploitation. This makes direct comparisons with previous legislation very difficult. Many new offences created by the Act will not have a direct equivalent under the old legislation. Table 1 covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956, with table 2 covering offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
	These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Table 1 :  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to having sexual intercourse with an underage person, by region, England and Wales 1997 to 2003, under the Sexual Offences Act 1956 ( 1, 2, 3) 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			  Region  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 North East 62 41 88 50 88 43 84 30 
			 North West 132 85 149 82 136 98 135 82 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 134 50 143 74 168 72 149 80 
			 East Midlands 100 58 103 51 113 61 105 43 
			 West Midlands 92 72 103 65 94 55 96 53 
			 East of England 83 43 97 51 123 54 88 43 
			 London 68 43 105 57 96 46 136 45 
			 South East 108 70 123 84 119 72 117 79 
			 South West 109 48 97 47 98 44 89 57 
			 Wales 84 46 93 35 106 50 80 49 
			 England and Wales 972 556 1,101 596 1,141 595 1,079 561 
		
	
	
		
			   2001  2002  2003 
			  Region  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 North East 80 46 78 42 81 48 
			 North West 205 85 217 91 206 88 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 172 58 164 68 150 63 
			 East Midlands 113 55 106 39 108 51 
			 West Midlands 154 60 184 64 166 79 
			 East of England 100 47 101 48 95 49 
			 London 172 47 235 56 285 73 
			 South East 154 64 189 87 172 74 
			 South West 115 39 109 40 104 62 
			 Wales 112 45 127 48 99 40 
			 England and Wales 1,377 546 1,510 583 1,466 627 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) 1997 to 2003 figures include the following offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956: Rape of a person under 16 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 13 Unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 Buggery with a person under 16  Source: Evidence and Analysis UnitOffice for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for offences relating to having sexual intercourse with an underage person, by region, England and Wales 2004 - 07, under the Sexual Offences Act 2003( 1, 2, 3) 
			   2004( 4)  2005  2006  2007 
			  Region  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 North East 50 20 79 28 79 46 71 49 
			 North West 176 49 199 110 199 93 204 114 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 123 56 155 86 130 90 121 95 
			 East Midlands 109 31 147 61 118 65 118 77 
			 West Midlands 137 33 158 76 158 105 148 90 
			 East of England 80 21 122 55 97 79 80 59 
			 London 193 38 207 36 197 55 164 58 
			 South East 115 40 162 81 138 97 150 102 
			 South West 75 30 106 50 98 81 98 69 
			 Wales 112 34 84 37 80 49 88 34 
			  
			 England and Wales 1,170 352 1,419 620 1,294 760 1,242 747 
			 (1) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) 2004 to 2007 figures include the following offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003: Rape of a child under 13 Rape of a person under 16 Sexual Activity with a child (where penetration is involved) (4) Act came into force on 1 May 2004.  Source: Evidence and Analysis UnitOffice for Criminal Justice Reform, Ministry of Justice

Offences against Children: Convictions

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people were prosecuted for sexual offences against those under the age of 18 years in  (a) 2006,  (b) 2007 and  (c) 2008; and how many such prosecutions resulted in a conviction.

Claire Ward: The number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts for sexual offences against children, 2006 and 2007 can be viewed in table.
	Data provided are for those statutes where the age of the victim is specified. These data are on the principal offence basis. The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offence for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, the offence selected is the one for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe.
	Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009.
	
		
			  Number of persons proceeded against at magistrates courts and found guilty at all courts of sexual offences against persons aged under 18 years, England and Wales 2006 and  2007( 1, 2, 3, 4) 
			   2006  2007 
			  Offence class  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Sexual assault of a male child aged under 13 118 63 130 77 
			 Rape, attempted rape of a male or female aged under 13 or under 16 1,100 416 1,020 434 
			 Sexual assault of a female child aged under 13 531 315 582 342 
			 Sexual activity with a male or female child aged under 13 293 181 337 206 
			 Sexual activity with a male or female aged under 16 697 644 692 620 
			 Familial sexual offences of a male or female child aged under 13 108 74 128 91 
			 Abuse of children aged under 18 through prostitution and pornography 29 17 43 27 
			 Abuse of trust sexual offences against a child aged under 18 20 18 17 18 
			 Meeting a male or female aged under 16 following sexual grooming 43 36 41 51 
			 Total 2,939 1,764 2,990 1,866 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The numbers found guilty may exceed those proceeded against in table 1, as it may be the case that the proceedings in the magistrates court took place in the preceding year to the defendant being found guilty at the Crown court in the following year, or the defendant was found guilty for a different offence to the original offence proceeded against. (4) Covers offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 which identify the victim as a minor at the time the offences was committed.  Source: Office for Criminal Justice ReformEvidence and Analysis Unit, Ministry of Justice

Prime Ministers

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will consult on the merits of direct elections to the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom as part of his programme for constitutional renewal; and if he will make a statement.

Jack Straw: No, Sir.

Prisoners' Discharge Grants

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners who had been in custody for less than 14 days received discharge grants upon release in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and how many days the offender had spent in custody in each case.

Maria Eagle: Prison Service Order (PSO) 6400 (Discharge) stipulates that, to be eligible for a discharge grant, prisoners must have been given a custodial sentence of more than 14 days.
	Following the introduction of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, prisoners serving sentences of one year or less were to be released at the halfway point of their sentence. The National Offender Management Service has recently become aware that, in the light of this, PSO 6400 was not sufficiently clear and its original intention has been open to possible misinterpretation. Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 21/2009, issued on 9 June 2009, clarifies that a prisoner must serve a sentence of which the custodial period is more than 14 days to be eligible for a discharge grant.
	Information on the number of prisoners who may have been paid a discharge grant in error, having spent 14 days or less in custody, is not held centrally and could be obtained only by examining the individual records of discharged prisoners at disproportionate cost.

Prisons: Barking and Dagenham

Jon Cruddas: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what his estimate is of the cost of constructing a new prison at Beam Park West;
	(2)  whether he has made arrangements to deal with the eventuality that a private contractor is unable to provide a prison on the Beam Park West site.

Jack Straw: The exact cost of constructing the proposed prison at Beam Park West has yet to be determined. However, it is estimated that the capital cost of constructing five 1,500 place prisons at 2008-09 prices is around 1.2 billion, excluding VAT and site purchase costs.
	We will consider the options available to us in the event we are unable to find a suitable contractor to build the proposed prison.

Probation Officers: Manpower

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many vacant probation officer positions there are in each region.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the number of vacant Probation Officer positions in each of the regions:
	
		
			   Vacant probation officer positions( 1,2,3,4) 
			 North East 3.0 
			 North West 11.0 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 11.0 
			 East Midlands 14.20 
			 West Midlands 10.80 
			 East of England 6.40 
			 London 2.0 
			 South East 15.81 
			 South West 24.43 
			 Wales 13.60 
			 (1) Figures shown as FTE as at 30 June 2007 and can be found in Issue 13 of the Workforce Information Report. (2) Includes: Senior Probation Officers, Probation Officers, Practice Development Assessors and Senior Practitioners. (3) Vacancies are defined as active vacancies, which includes any post that is being actively recruited into. (4) Due to the HR System in use, Hampshire Probation Area (South East Region), Greater Manchester Probation Area (North West Region) and West Midlands Probation Area (West Midlands Region) have been unable to provide any vacancy figures and are excluded from this return.

Probation Officers: Manpower

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many  (a) qualified probation officers and  (b) Probation Service officers have been employed by the Probation Service in each quarter since the start of 2003.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the number of probation officers and probation service officers in post in each quarter since the start of 2003.
	
		
			   Probation officers( 1)  Probation service officers( 2) 
			  2003-04   
			 Q1 5831.10 4752.40 
			 Q2 5937.80 5204.30 
			 Q3 6271.50 5386.86 
			 Q4 6285.4 5416.80 
			
			  2004-05   
			 Q1 6257.32 5467.77 
			 Q2 6376.48 5511.66 
			 Q3 6584.94 5623.86 
			 Q4 6566.63 5849.99 
			
			  2005-06   
			 Q1 6468.44 5968.35 
			 Q2 6529.41 6089.00 
			 Q3 6894.36 6235.17 
			 Q4 6515.35 6337.64 
			
			  2006-07   
			 Q1 6855.26 6645.30 
			 Q2 6878.67 6552.00 
			 Q3 7209.55 6502.71 
			 Q4 7149.26 6506.78 
			
			  2007-08   
			 Q1 7007.75 6430.58 
			 Q2(3) 6976.30 6304.56 
			 Q3(3) 7119.54 6221.76 
			 (1) Includes: senior probation officers, senior practitioners, probation officers and practice development assessors. (2) Includes: probation services officers and treatment managers. (3) The information provided has yet to be published and may therefore be subject to minor amendment upon publication.  Note: Figures are shown as full-time equivalents. 
		
	
	Figures for Q4 2007-08 and 2008-09 are currently unavailable.

Probation: Vacancies

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many unfilled posts there are in each region in the Probation Service.

Jack Straw: The following table shows the number of vacant post in each of the regions.
	
		
			   Active vacancies( 1, 2, 3) 
			 North East 31.84 
			 North West 34.65 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 59.15 
			 East Midlands 55.37 
			 West Midlands 35.71 
			 East of England 37.18 
			 London 142.08 
			 South East 72.78 
			 South West 66.15 
			 Wales 12.10 
			 (1) Figures shown as FTE as at 30 June 2007 and can be found in issue 13 of the Workforce Information Report. (2) Vacancies are defined as 'active vacancies', which includes any post that is being actively recruited into. (3) Due to the HR system in use, Hampshire probation area (South East region), Greater Manchester probation area (North West region) and West Midlands probation area (West Midlands region) have been unable to provide any vacancy figures and are excluded from this return.

Release on Licence

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many prisoners were released on temporary licence in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09.

Jack Straw: Records are not held of the number of prisoners granted temporary release. However, the numbers of temporary release licences issued in 2007-08 was 441,167. This figure is the total of all individual licences issued, as some prisoners will be granted temporary release on a number of occasions and as a result will be issued with multiple licences over the course of a year. The 2008-09 figure will be published in the Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2008 at the end of July 2009. The publication of this bulletin has been pre-announced on the Ministry of Justice and the United Kingdom Statistics Authority websites.
	Release on temporary licence is the mechanism that enables prisoners to participate in necessary activities, outside of the prison establishment, that directly contribute to their resettlement into the community and their development of a purposeful law abiding life. Prisoners are not granted temporary release unless they meet the eligibility criteria and pass a stringent risk assessment.

Young Offenders: Crimes of Violence

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the average sentence for a  (a) section 18 and  (b) section 20 grievous bodily harm offence for those aged (i) 21 years and over and (ii) under 21 years old was in 2007-08;
	(2)  what the average sentence for those over the age of 21 years convicted of a section 47 offence was in 2007-08.

Claire Ward: The available data are shown in the following table. Data for 2008 will not be available until Sentencing Statistics 2008 is published later in the year.
	
		
			  Offenders aged over 21 and under 21 sentenced under sections 18,20 and 47 of Offences Against the Persons Act 1861,2007 
			   Offender aged 21 and over  Offender aged under 21 
			  Section 18( 1)   
			 Total number sentenced 1,107 627 
			 Absolute discharge 1 2 
			 Conditional discharge 0 0 
			 Fine 2 2 
			 Community sentence 20 65 
			 Fully suspended sentence 18 18 
			 Immediate custody 1,024 524 
			 Otherwise dealt with 42 16 
			 Number of indeterminate sentences 304 95 
			 ACSL (months) for determinate sentences 47.3 37.7 
			
			  Section 20( 2)   
			 Total number sentenced 2,955 1.592 
			 Absolute discharge 2 2 
			 Conditional discharge 20 14 
			 Fine 19 14 
			 Community sentence 372 622 
			 Fully suspended sentence 975 218 
			 Immediate custody 1492 692 
			 Otherwise dealt with 75 30 
			 ACSL (months) 20.1 16.1 
			
			  Section 47( 3)   
			 Total number sentenced 10,118  
			 Absolute discharge 16  
			 Conditional discharge 413  
			 Fine 359  
			 Community sentence 3,068  
			 Fully suspended sentence 3,086  
			 Immediate custody 2,821  
			 Otherwise dealt with 355  
			 ACSL (months) 11.5  
			 (1) Wounding with intent to do grievous bodily harm (2) Malicious wounding, racially aggravated malicious wounding, religiously aggravated malicious wounding, racially or religiously aggravated malicious wounding (3) Assault occasioning actual bodily harm, racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm, racially or religiously aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm,  Note s : ACSL excludes indeterminate sentences. These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system.  Source:  OMS Analytical Services, Ministry of Justice 
		
	
	The table shows the sentences handed down to and the average custodial sentence length (ACSL) for determinate sentences for those aged 21 and over under sections 18, section 20 and 47 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 for 2007. The table also shows the sentences handed down to, and the ACSL for, offenders aged under 21, sentenced under sections 18 and 20 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 for 2007. Also included is the number of indeterminate sentences for the section 18 offences. These data are based on the offences under section 18, section 20 and section 47, where such offences were the principal offences for which the offender was sentenced. Where an offender has been sentenced for more than one offence the principal offence is the one for which the heaviest sentence was imposed, where the same sentence has been imposed for two or more offences the principal offence is the one for which the statutory maximum is most severe.